Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday the Alberta referendum on separation is a “dangerous bluff” if anyone thinks its results could be used as leverage in future negotiations.
Carney said he saw those effects first-hand when he was the governor of the Bank of England after the Brexit vote. He warned that people in the United Kingdom are still trying to undo the damage caused by that decision a decade later.
“In these separation issues, it is often advanced that, ‘Vote for this and it’s a free option. Vote for this, and we will strengthen our hand in a future negotiation.’ That is a very dangerous bluff,” Carney told a news conference in Ottawa on Monday.
Should Alberta remain part of Canada?
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said last week that her government will pose a question in the referendum planned for October, asking Albertans whether the province should remain part of Canada or begin the legal process for a separation referendum.
Smith said in a televised address last week that not asking the question in a referendum would amount to “muzzling the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans,” something she said would be “unjustifiable” in a democracy.
Court disqualifies separatist petition because province failed to consult with Indigenous communities
A petition to trigger a referendum on Alberta separation was thrown out earlier this month by a judge, who cited the provincial government’s failure to consult Indigenous communities on the effect separation would have on their treaty rights. The Alberta government is appealing that ruling.
Smith said last week that waiting for the court to complete that appeal process would prolong a “very emotional and important debate.”
Carney said the government is reviewing the proposed referendum question to ensure it complies with the Clarity Act, the federal secession law which passed after the 1995 Quebec referendum.
Carney plans to campaign for national unity
The prime minister said he plans to campaign for national unity and to show that co-operative federalism can work.
He pointed to a deal he signed with Smith earlier this month which commits the two levels of government to working toward building a new oil pipeline to the Pacific coast, so long as industrial carbon price targets are met and carbon capture projects move ahead.
When asked if he tried to dissuade Smith from posing a separation question during those pipeline negotiations, Carney did not answer directly.
“The premier doesn’t always take my advice,” he said.
The prime minister said such a referendum campaign isn’t helpful when the province is trying to woo investors for a pipeline. He pointed out that voters did not give Smith’s government a mandate to take this step.
“Is it the democratic will of Albertans? Did they vote for this in the last provincial election? No, they didn’t. It wasn’t on the ballot paper, it wasn’t in the mandates or platforms of the governing party and the Official Opposition,” Carney said. “It is what it is.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who represents an Alberta riding, said last week that he and the rest of his caucus will campaign for the province to remain in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 25, 2026.