Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has condemned separatists offering Alberta’s water resources and oil royalties to the U.S. government in exchange for support, calling it “absurd” and “ridiculous.” This information emerged from meetings between Alberta separatist groups and U.S. State Department officials that took place in late 2025 but were previously unconfirmed. Smith emphasized that any discussions about resource access should be handled by elected Canadian governments rather than separatists. The premier also reiterated her stance on the upcoming referendum, suggesting that she expects the U.S. to deal with official government channels only.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Premier Danielle Smith of Alberta called it "absurd" and "ridiculous" for separatists to offer U.S. government access to fresh water and resource royalties in exchange for support in establishing an independent Alberta. This information was first reported by the Globe and Mail on a Saturday. The offers were made during three meetings between separatist leaders, including Dennis Modry, co-founder of the pro-independence Alberta Prosperity Project (APP), and U.S. State Department officials in Washington late last year. Smith emphasized that such decisions would need to be approved by Albertans, who she believes would not support such propositions. The meetings were previously known but the specific offers made during these sessions were newly disclosed.
Written for “Alberta Premier On Separatists” on 2026-10-08,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 64757: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-08
Alberta premier says ‘ridiculous’ for separatists to offer royalties, water to Americans
Danielle Smith says U.S. government needs to deal with elected Canadian governments
Premier Danielle Smith says it was “absurd” and “ridiculous” for prominent separatists to offer the United States government access to fresh water and resource royalties in return for its help establishing an independent Alberta.
The information was reported by the Globe and Mail on Saturday.
asserted
information → say → Saturday
CBC News has not independently confirmed the details in the story.
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News → confirm → story
Alberta separatists met three times with U.S. State Department officials in Washington in late 2025.
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separatists → meet → 2025
“I think it's absurd that anybody would offer something like that up that's not theirs to offer,” Smith said at an unrelated news conference in Edmonton Wednesday.
“
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Smith → think → Edmonton
It's a decision that Albertans would make, and I don't think Albertans would support it.”
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Albertans → make → it
The Washington meetings were already public knowledge, but what was offered to U.S. officials was new information.
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offered → offer → officials
According to the Globe and Mail, Dennis Modry, co-founder of the pro-independence Alberta Prosperity Project (APP), told the media outlet about the offer that was made.
uncertain
that → accord → offer
Jeff Rath, a lawyer with the separatist movement, denied to the Globe and Mail that any of those matters were discussed.
Mitch Sylvestre is the president for the Bonnyville-Cold Lake UCP constituency association.
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Sylvestre → deny → association
He also heads up the APP.
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He → head → APP
In an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, he also denied any discussion about access to water or oil taking place during the meetings in Washington, though he noted he only went to one meeting.
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he → deny → meeting
"We have no authority to do any of that," he said.
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he → have → that
We can't go down there and have that conversation."
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We → go → conversation
Sylvestre added that he believes there's enough support in Alberta for independence that U.S. support is not needed.
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support → add → independence
Smith has been criticized for including a question on Alberta’s Oct. 19 referendum about whether the province should remain in Canada or if it should start the legal process for a binding future referendum that would provide a definitive answer on Alberta’s fate within Confederation.
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that → criticize → Confederation
Smith didn’t answer a question Wednesday about whether she believes she has encouraged U.S. involvement in the political situation by asking the question.
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she → answer → question
Instead she said she believes the people that were involved in the meetings are critics of hers because she plans to vote to stay in Canada.
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she → say → Canada
“We expect that the American administration will deal with the duly elected governments,” Smith added.
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Smith → expect → governments
“That includes mine, but it also includes the government of Canada.”
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it → include → Canada
Alberta mayors voice concern ahead of fall referendum
The mayors of Calgary and Edmonton appeared on CBC News Network's Power & Politics on Monday and spoke about their concerns in light of the Globe and Mail report.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he believes the referendum is a distraction from other issues facing Albertans.
He said he's worried about the potential for misinformation and foreign interference, and more generally about the impact that Alberta's referendum could have on the province's future.
uncertain
referendum → voice → future
"My fear is regardless of the outcome, this is not going to be settled," he said.
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he → go → outcome
"My fear is that we're going to continue to see continued divisive debates and potentially more referendums being called."
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debates → go → ?
Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack said the report about water and royalties being offered to the U.S. is a reminder of what's at risk, especially with U.S. President Donald Trump's past comments about his interest in potentially making Canada his country's 51st state.
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Canada → say → interest
"That to me has been part of the challenge of this," he said.
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he → say → this
Knack said he believes the vast majority of Edmontonians do not support a binding referendum on independence, and called on all Albertans to vote in this month's referendum.
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majority → say → referendum
"If there's one good thing about this ridiculous story — I can't even believe that's happening — is that hopefully it serves as a wake-up call to everyone in this province that you cannot be sleeping on Oct. 19."
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you → be → Oct.
The Aporia
