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 in what is known as western alienation – a term used to describe the belief by some that the interests of the province are often overlooked by decision-makers in Ottawa.
While the push for a plebiscite has grown in the province, opinion polls suggest a minority – about 25% – of Albertans support independence.
The joint report was released on Wednesday by the Global Centre for Democratic Resilience, the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Data and Conflict, and DisinfoWatch. It argued that foreign actors are exploiting genuine regional grievances, such as concerns the resource-rich province is economically exploited, through social media, “Russian-aligned information infrastructure” and other online accounts.
“When external actors amplify separatist narratives, normalize annexation, encourage national rupture, or undermine confidence in democratic processes, the issue is no longer only a matter of provincial politics,” researchers wrote in their report.
“It becomes a direct threat to Canada’s democratic integrity, national security, and cognitive sovereignty.”
Marcus Kolga, the director of DisinfoWatch, told the BBC, that “ensuring that [Canadians] have a discussion domestically that’s free of that manipulation is key”.
The social media accounts studied were ones known to have previously spread disinformation.
The content was created in an attempt to inflame the ongoing debate in Alberta and was designed to be pushed and promoted among like-minded Canadians, the report said.
Researchers described Russia’s engagement with Alberta separatism as covert; it appears “doctrinal, operational and sustained”.
The aim for the disruptors was for the content to then find its way into local conversation, “creating a laundering effect in which local grievances are blended with foreign strategic narratives”, the report said.
Economic “opportunists” are also involved, the researchers say, using generative AI, paid voice actors, and video production to “mimic authentic Canadian political commentary”.
And those online videos are designed to fill the ongoing debate with false narratives.
Even American influencers are playing a part, Kolga said, “pouring fuel on the issue externally”.
“The reason they’re doing this is to provoke some sort of political action,” he said.
The researchers also noted that senior US Trump administration officials have met directly with Alberta separatist leaders “and made public statements validating their cause”.
In January, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta’s premier said the US should respect Canadian sovereignty after it emerged that Alberta separatists had talked to the Trump administration about the province possibly leaving Canada.
Should the independence vote move forward, the proposed referendum in Alberta could come as early as 19 October.
While the movement doesn’t have one unified view, most want to see more autonomy over the province’s resource wealth and political priorities.
Even if a “leave” vote were successful, a long and uncertain path would lie ahead.
Canadian law lays out ground rules for any independence referendums, including that a “clear majority” of voters must be in favour, that the language of the referendum question be clear and that there must be oversight from the House of Commons.
If those conditions are met, Alberta would then enter into complex and likely lengthy separation negotiations with the federal government on the terms of the divorce.
