Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a press conference on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
David Kawai | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney branded the oil-rich province’s separatist movement a “dangerous bluff” similar to Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
Carney shared his “opinions from experience” with reporters in Ottawa on Monday.
“In these secession issues, it’s often said, ‘If you vote for this, it’s a free choice. If you vote for this, it strengthens our hand in future negotiations.’ That’s a very dangerous bluff,” he said.
“I saw firsthand what happened in the UK when the idea was ‘vote for this and we’ll go soft then we’ll negotiate’ and 10 years later they’re still trying to undo what they ended up getting when they didn’t think people would vote for it.”
Last week, Alberta Premier Daniel Smith announced plans to hold a non-binding vote on whether the province should remain part of Canada or move forward with a second binding vote on secession. The vote, announced after months of campaigning by secessionists in Alberta, is expected to take place in the fall.
Supporters of the “Stay Free Alberta” movement say they have collected more than 300,000 signatures in support of the separatist movement, driven in part by the view that Alberta has been ignored by federal policymakers.
In 1995, the Canadian province of Quebec held a referendum on whether to become independent from Canada. Voters narrowly decided to remain part of Canada, with 50.58 per cent opposed secession.
Carney, who became Canada’s prime minister last year, served as governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020.
In 2016, during his tenure as central banker, Britain narrowly voted to leave the European Union in a polarizing referendum.
of british pound It has fallen sharply against major currencies since the vote and has yet to recover to pre-Brexit levels. London’s stock market, IPO status and foreign direct investment were also hit in the aftermath of the vote.
After the vote to leave the EU, the British government struggled to negotiate a deal with the EU, leading to former Prime Minister Theresa May’s resignation.
Although the UK officially left the EU in 2020, it is still grappling with many economic consequences. Some economists estimate that Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by up to 8% last year as a result of Brexit, citing it as a factor in the decline in jobs, productivity and investment in the country.
Britain’s relationship with the EU remains a contentious topic among British voters.
Last year, the EU and Britain announced a landmark deal to reset relations, covering a wide range of issues from security and trade to travel and fishing.
The increasingly popular left-wing Green Party advocates closer ties with the EU, while the right-wing party Reform UK, which is threatening to outwit the ruling Labor Party and its main opposition Conservative party, wants to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, crack down on immigration and strip welfare rights from EU citizens.
