OTTAWA – As Albertans prepare to cast their ballots in a vote that could make or break the provincial separatist movement, Alberta Liberal MP Corey Hogan says he is satisfied that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is not attempting to interfere with the referendum. Prominent Alberta separatist Jeffrey Rath confirmed to CTV News in February that members of the Alberta Prosperity Project had met with U.S. State Department officials, and a sweeping Globe & Mail investigation published earlier this month detailed several instances of members of the separatist movement meeting with both U.S. government officials and Republican operatives. In an interview on CTV’s Power Play that aired Wednesday, Hogan told host Vassy Kapelos that conversations have occurred between government representatives to try to get a better understanding of what has unfolded, and that he had personally met with staff members of the U.S. Embassy. “Look, I want to say I kind of get it. Like, meetings happen. Sometimes you take a meeting because a friend of yours says to take a meeting, and I can’t control that,” said Hogan. “And then you say, ‘oh my goodness, this was different than I expected.’” “But what really matters to me is not so much what the separatists say they’ve done, but really, the actions of governments going forward from that,” said Hogan. When pressed by Kapelos if he is satisfied that the White House is not trying to interfere in the Alberta referendum, Hogan said based on the conversations he has had, he is “generally satisfied that there is not a big push towards these things.” “I would say though … as Canadians, we should be very alert to the fact that there are a lot of people who have interests in our elections, whether it be Americans or whether it be people who have been traditional adversaries of ours, such as Russia, and we have to be very cautious.” Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier this month that his government was following allegations of foreign interference in the Alberta referendum closely. Anton Boegman, Canada’s Foreign Influence Commissioner, also told reporters last week that his office has reached out to dozens of people or groups involved in the referendum. CTV News asked the Canadian Security and Intelligence Services (CSIS) whether the agency was investigating any cases related to American interference in the Alberta separatist movement. “Federal security agencies are working with provincial partners to safeguard the integrity of the referendum,” said a spokesperson for CSIS in a statement provided to CTV News, without addressing the substance of the question. “Together, federal and provincial partners are undertaking the work that is necessary to ensure that Albertans can exercise their democratic rights, unfettered by foreign interference.” Albertans will cast their ballots Monday on ten referendum questions, including whether they want to remain in Canada or launch the process to hold a legally binding referendum in the future.
