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An Alberta judge has quashed a separatist petition, saying the provincial government had a duty to consult with First Nations. Justice Shaina Leonard says the petition should never have been issued. Lawyers for several Alberta First Nations had argued the province’s referendum process and its use by separatists are unconstitutional, as there’s no requirement for Indigenous consultation. They also said separation would violate treaty rights. Lawyers for the province defended the process and pushed for the separatist petition to play out. The separatist group Stay Free Alberta handed in its petition last week and boasted that it had nearly 302,000...

A judge in Alberta on Wednesday delivered a blow to activists’ efforts to hold a referendum on the Western Canadian province’s split from the country, siding with an Indigenous group that argued the government has an obligation to consult with it as their rights would be directly affected by secession. The Court of King’s Bench of Alberta ruling sided with the Indigenous group, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, in its lawsuit against the provincial government. The group argued that the secession of Alberta from Canada would introduce new international borders, violating its rights under long-established treaties. The group maintained that...

A very interesting video about the Carney Doctrine: Behind the Scenes in Toronto and President Trump's Doctrine.

“Operation Epic Fury was the loud one. Operation Economic Fury is the quiet one. . . . While the carriers were on television, Treasury was doing the actual demolition.” —Jesús Enrique Rosas on X Expect a consequential week. The Persian Gulf remains closed and colossal oil slicks leak out of Kharg Island while Iran blusters and stomps its feet. No one can even try to buy its oil anymore, not even China. The sanctions are too onerous. Iran’s wells must be shut in now. Imagine how the production chiefs out in the oil fields are howling at their insane IRGC...

A new research tool that tracks cell phone activity has found a 42% drop in visitors from Canada to big metropolitan areas in the US that is much higher than official border-crossing data, suggesting Canadians during the second Trump administration are avoiding US cities in particular. Researchers from the University of Toronto said the tool showed a “year-over-year median decline of approximately 42% in Canadian visits to US metropolitan areas – significantly higher than official border-crossing data, which showed a roughly 25% decline”. The economies of US border towns reliant on Canadian traffic have been slammed as their northerly neighbours...

On May 4, the organizers of the Alberta Independence Movement announced they had accrued a massive number of signatures, well in excess of the required number to submit their petition to trigger an independence referendum.They needed 177,732.🚨 BREAKING: 301,620 signatures have officially been announced for the Alberta independence petition.That is far beyond the required threshold to trigger the Alberta independence vote on October 19th.A massive day for the Alberta Independence movement. pic.twitter.com/RbeIDkNf7e— Rise Of Alberta (@RiseOfAlberta) May 4, 2026Classically, it ain't over 'til it's over, and even getting the referendum on an October ballot is a dogfight.Just because you followed...

Canada's close ties to the United States were once a strength but have become a weakness, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday, ​in a video message to his country in which he also ‌praised the heroism of military leaders who fought against U.S. invasion more than two centuries ago. Holding up a small toy soldier depiction of General Isaac Brock, the British military leader who died ​defending what is now Canada from a U.S. invasion in the War ​of 1812, Carney said Canada can't control the disruption coming from its ⁠U.S. neighbors, and can't bet its future on the...

I spent last weekend crossing half the globe with Prime Minister Mark Carney, to spend a few hours with European leaders in Yerevan, the stunning Armenian capital, before crossing all the way back to Ottawa. Mr. Carney was the first non-European leader to be invited to a meeting of the European Political Community, a grouping that brings together the 27 European Union member states with allies and neighbors, including Britain and Turkey, as well as aspiring members such as Ukraine and Albania. This meeting happens twice a year, and it’s mostly a chance for the leaders to talk about pressing...

With a separatist movement brewing across some parts of Alberta, Canada's Prime Minister is attempting to build bridges with that province's Premier. As Xiaoli Li tells us, a pipeline project is at the centre of those discussions.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Alberta separatists said Monday they have formally submitted almost 302,000 signatures to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada. The group needed 178,000 signatures to force the province to consider such a vote. The question of separation could go on a provincewide ballot as early as October, as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said she would move forward if enough names are gathered and verified. Smith has said she personally does not support the oil-rich province leaving Canada. A “yes” vote would not trigger independence automatically. Negotiations with the federal government would have...

An Alberta First Nation is seeking to quash a potential referendum on provincial separation, saying they have been treated as “chattel on the land” and that an independence campaign would make Alberta vulnerable to foreign interference. On Monday, Sturgeon Lake Cree First Nation, a band in northwest Alberta, sued the provincial and federal governments and the province’s chief electoral officer in the Court of King’s Bench, asking for an injunction on a separatist petition approved last week. Sturgeon Lake argues separation is impossible without First Nations consent and that a referendum would open the door to corporate donors and digital...

Foreign actors are attempting to undermine Canadian interests by interfering in Alberta's separatist debate, according to new report. Actors from Russia and the US are attempting to promote separatist ideas in what researchers behind the report described as a threat to Canada's "democratic integrity". The findings come as a proposed independence referendum in the western Canadian province could face a vote as soon as this autumn. Earlier this week, a group behind a citizen-led petition seeking independence for Alberta said that it had acquired the number of signatures needed to trigger a referendum. The Alberta separatist movement has its roots...

Any attempt by Alberta to separate from the rest of Canada must follow the strict rules set out by the Clarity Act, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday, while making the case that he can stop the secessionist push by demonstrating that the federation works. On Monday, the leaders of Alberta’s separatist movement said they had gathered enough signatures to force a vote on whether the province should split with Canada in a referendum scheduled for Oct. 19. The campaign could still be derailed by a legal challenge and an Elections Alberta investigation, but its leaders insist it has the...

Alberta separatists said Monday they have formally submitted almost 302,000 signatures to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada. The group needed 178,000 signatures to force the province to consider such a vote. The question of separation could go on a provincewide ballot as early as October, as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said she would move forward if enough names are gathered and verified. Smith has said she personally does not support the oil-rich province leaving Canada. A “yes” vote would not trigger independence automatically. Negotiations with the federal government would have to take place and...

Europe will not submit to a more “brutal world”, and can instead be the base from which a new international order can be rebuilt, Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, has said. Carney was speaking as the first non-European leader to attend a meeting of the European Political Community, which opened on Monday amid high tensions in the strait of Hormuz and renewed doubts about the US commitment to Nato. “We don’t think that we’re destined to submit to a more transactional, insular and brutal world, and gatherings such as these point to a better way forward,” he said. In...

A confidential Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School report has revealed a complete breakdown in basic officer training following a surge in permanent resident enrolment. One French-language platoon, which had over 80 per cent non-citizens, was reportedly wracked by an inability to communicate fluently, a lack of respect towards female CAF members and infighting between Cameroonian and Côte d’Ivoire candidates. The Quebec platoon saw fewer than one in two recruits graduate, while allegations of racial discrimination were made in multiple directions, from candidates against staff and between candidates of opposing ethnic blocs themselves. Additionally, command saw “challenges” in training permanent...

Canada is to become the first non-European country to attend a meeting of the European Political Community when the prime minister, Mark Carney, joins Monday’s summit of the 48-plus nation grouping in Yerevan, Armenia. Carney has said he is determined to build a new network of trade and diplomatic alliances after the loss of US markets under Donald Trump. His presence will also represent a show of western support for Armenia in its efforts to distance itself from Russia at a time when Washington’s approach to Moscow’s opponents, such as Ukraine, is at best ambiguous. Canadian diplomats have rejected suggestions...

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will not use energy or critical minerals as “leverage” in upcoming trade talks with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Carney said on Friday that Canada is not talking about halting any such trade with the U.S. and ruled out the notion entirely, adding Canadians honour their contracts and agreements. But the prime minister also suggested further integration with the United States in those sectors — highly coveted by the Trump administration — remains in question.

OTTAWA — The video playing was clearly Pete Hoekstra, the frequently combative U.S. ambassador to Canada. But something was off. He kept referring to Canada as a partner? “For all of the critical things that we need, Canada would be an ideal partner,” Hoekstra said in a prerecorded conversation at a conservative think tank in March. Hoekstra ticked off the ways the two countries could work together: deepened military cooperation in the Arctic, including through Trump’s “Golden Dome”; beefed-up energy cooperation on oil and gas, critical minerals and uranium; coordinating on artificial intelligence. At one point, he even cited the...

President Donald Trump granted a key approval Thursday for a major new oil pipeline from Canada into the U.S. that’s been dubbed “Keystone Light” over its similarities to a contentious project blocked by the Biden administration. The three-foot-wide (1 meter) Bridger Pipeline Expansion would carry up to 550,000 barrels (87,400 cubic meters) of oil a day from Canada through Montana and Wyoming, where it would link with another pipeline. The pipeline needs additional state and federal environmental approvals before construction, which company officials expect to start next year. Environmentalists hope to stop the project over worries that the pipeline could...