Carney says the United States is trying to break Canada as Alberta votes on starting a path toward separation

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has accused the United States of trying to break Canada so that it can "own us". He urged voters in oil-rich Alberta not to start a process toward separation in Monday's referendum. Deutsche Welle reported that Carney described Washington's approach as a divide-and-rule tactic. He said the vote comes at the “worst time” for the country.

The vote is a first step and does not decide independence. Albertans will choose whether to remain a province or to instruct their government to begin the legal process toward a later referendum on separation. Advance voting runs through Saturday. Carney plans to spend the final week in Alberta, according to the CBC.

Alberta holds most of Canada's oil production and much of its export revenue. That is why both sides treat the vote as a test of national economic unity. Supporters of separation argue that federal policy has taken more from the province than it returns. Carney's government argues that US pressure on Canadian trade and sovereignty makes this the moment of greatest risk from division. Carney did not cite specific US actions in the remarks reported.

Other US allies face the same kind of pressure on territory. In Britain, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called it "humiliating" that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage proposed offering Trump the Chagos archipelago in exchange for him to stop talking about the Falklands. In both countries, governments are treating American statements about territory as a factor in domestic politics.