Trump administration staying out of Alberta separation referendum, ambassador says

The Trump administration is staying out of the upcoming referendum on Alberta’s future in Canada, the U.S. ambassador to Canada says.

Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said during a podcast interview in Edmonton on Monday that the Oct. 19 referendum vote is a matter for Albertans alone to decide.

“The vote that’s going to happen in October is a decision for the people of Alberta,” Hoekstra told local talk show host Ryan Jespersen.

“If (the referendum) is going to be influenced by governments, it’s going to be influenced by the government of Alberta and by the federal government, and maybe the other provinces, but not by the United States government,” he said.

Hoekstra said he had “clear direction from Washington” not to try to influence the referendum.

The U.S. ambassador was in Alberta’s capital city to speak at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s annual summit.

The visit comes three months ahead of a referendum in which Albertans will be asked whether the province should stay in Canada or start the legal process to hold a binding independence referendum.

Some Alberta separatists say they have made multiple trips to Washington, D.C . over the past 15 months to meet with contacts in the U.S. government. Some critics have implied the Trump administration is engaging in “foreign interference” by meeting with separatists while intelligence watchers have warned there is a risk of disinformation campaigns from foreign powers. However, Premier Danielle Smith said in May she had seen “‘no credible evidence” of any state actors trying to manipulate the referendum debate.

Hoekstra said that, while he was aware of the purported Washington meetings, U.S. officials sitting down with Alberta separatists doesn’t in itself constitute foreign interference.

“(We) meet with people from all over,” said Hoekstra. “You get calls and request to meet with folks and… if they’re people that are working on issues that may have an impact on U.S. relations, there’s a good chance we’ll meet with them, just to get some kind of perspective.”

Hoekstra laughed sarcastically when Jespersen likened the meetings to a taxpayer-funded anti-tariff ad the Ontario government ran in the U.S. last fall, ahead of the 2025 off-year elections that led to the president suspending trade negotiations with Canada.

“Compared to a provincial government and Canadian taxpayers running (political) ads in the United States of America? You’re equating those two? C’mon, that’s not even close!” said Hoekstra.

“(U.S. President) Donald Trump and the administration hasn’t given me a pot of money that says, ‘hey Pete, if there’s an interesting election or by-election, here’s $50,000, go spend it,'” he added.

Hoekstra told Jespersen he thought the Ontario ad campaign was “outrageous,” calling it the first time in the U.S.’s 250-year history that a foreign government has tried to influence the outcome of upcoming elections.

The interview took place before Trump announced an executive orderimposing new 50 per cent tariffs on certain Canadian goods, set to begin Aug. 19.

The fall Alberta referendum could have implications for the American economy. The province exports roughly 1.24-billion barrels of oil to the U.S. annually, more than any other jurisdiction in the world.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in January that an independent Alberta would be a “natural partner” for his country.

National Postrmohamed@postmedia.com

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