Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, during a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, May 14, 2026.
David Kawai | Bloomberg | getty images
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has branded oil-rich Alberta’s separatist movement a “dangerous fraud,” echoing the U.K.’s 2016 Brexit vote.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Monday, Carney shared “an observation from experience.”
“In these secession issues, the push often is, ‘Vote for this and it’s a free option. Vote for this and we’ll strengthen our hand in future negotiations.’ “This is a very dangerous hoax,” he said.
“I saw firsthand what happened in the United Kingdom when the view was, ‘Vote for this, it will be soft and then we’ll negotiate.’ And they’re still, 10 years later, trying to eliminate what people didn’t think they were voting for but what they ended up getting.”
Last week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced plans for the province to hold a non-binding vote on whether to remain part of Canada or proceed with a second binding vote on separation. The vote, announced after months of campaigning by separatists in Alberta, is expected to take place in the fall.
Supporters of the Stay Free Alberta movement Said He collected over 300,000 signatures in support of the separatist movement, partly guided by the view that Alberta has been ignored by federal policy makers.
In 1995, the Canadian province of Quebec held a referendum on independence from Canada. Voters decided to remain part of Canada, with 50.58% voting against separation.
Carney, who became Prime Minister of Canada last year, served as governor of the Bank of England between 2013 and 2020.
In 2016, during his tenure leading the central bank, Britain voted by a narrow margin to leave the European Union in a polarizing referendum.
British Pound They fell against major currencies following the vote and have yet to reach pre-Brexit levels. The voting also had an impact on the London stock market, IPO scenario and foreign direct investment.
Following the Brexit vote, the UK government struggled to negotiate a deal with the EU, leading to the resignation of former Prime Minister Theresa May.
Britain, which officially left the bloc in 2020, is still grappling with the economic consequences. some economists guess Brexit reduced Britain’s GDP by 8% over the previous year, with its departure from the European Union cited as a driver of weak momentum in employment, productivity and investment in the country.
Britain’s relationship with the European Union remains a controversial issue among British voters.
Last year, the EU and the UK announced a historic agreement to reset relations, covering a range of matters from security and trade to travel and fisheries.
The increasingly popular, leftist Green Party advocates closer ties with the bloc, while Reform UK – the right-wing party that is threatening to overturn the ruling Labor Party and its main opposition, the Conservatives – wants to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, curb immigration and strip EU citizens’ welfare rights.