Gil McGowan

A shadowy network of YouTube channels is targeting Albertans with AI-driven misinformation pushing separatism and the notion that Alberta would be better off if it became the 51st state in Trump’s America. This feels like foreign interference! #abpoli

@KaraJune4 …using the separatist thread as leverage (she thinks it’s been working great for her, so far)

@KaraJune4 I think that’s part of the point. I think they think that the construction will increase the likelihood of people voting for the separatist option (because it would be seen more as a protest vote than a real vote). I also think Smith wants this … so she can continue…

Danielle Smith’s super power is making extreme positions sound reasonable. That power was on display tonight. But, when you get past the spin, what you see is a politician who wants to give herself WAY more power — and use that power to make Alberta look like Trump’s America.

It increases the odds of a successful "leave" vote that will be passed off as a harmless protest vote. Which then keeps the prospect of a binding referendum -- and separatism -- alive for years. Even I didn't have this on my bingo card.

A referendum on Canadian unity is divisive enough. Holding a referendum to have another referendum will divide us and will kill our economy. It is now more important than ever that all supporters of #ForeverCanadian sign up at Forever-Canadian.ca so we can stop this insanity.

Another fascinating article by my friend @kejimao, who remains one of the most thought-provoking geopolitical scholars in China: thewire.in/diplomacy/ches… He tackles an apparent contradiction that I know many people are struggling with: if there is indeed some form of detente between the U.S. and China, why then is the U.S. still selling the "China threat" narrative to countries like India, Japan, and South Korea? Mao's thesis: the U.S. now understands it cannot contain or suppress China anymore - that game is over. But the narrative remains enormously profitable. Keeping allies scared means keeping them buying US weapons, US energy, US technology. The China threat has gone from strategic doctrine to market preservation, or - as Mao puts it - from treating "allies" as "chess pieces" to treating them as "blood bags" (as in the medical bags you drain until it's empty and then discard). Mao, being an India specialist and writing in an Indian paper, warns India it is particularly vulnerable to this because whatever leverage India once had over Washington has largely evaporated. The U.S. needed India when it believed it could contain China. It no longer believes that - which means India has gone from being courted to being invoiced. There is, interestingly, a parallel to this around green energy that I myself highlighted in several of my articles (such as this one in Le Monde Diplomatique last December: mondediplo.com/2025/12/10china). Trump's anti-renewable rhetoric - "drill, baby, drill," calling green energy a "hoax" - functions exactly like this: it's not really about energy policy at home (renewables made up an extraordinary 88% of new US power generating capacity in 2025: electrek.co/2026/04/01/fer…), it's about keeping others dependent on US fossil fuels. In essence, as things stand, neither the "China threat" nor the "green energy hoax" are operative strategies. They're sales pitches. The U.S. doesn't act on either one - it installs renewables at home and pursues détente with Beijing. The narratives exist for the purpose of keeping invoices flowing to countries foolish enough to drink the Kool-Aid.

We need to be clear on what that means. No national public health care, child care, dental care or Pharmacare. No national police (RCMP). And certainly no national climate policies. Instead will get MAGA-style policies on guns, immigration etc.

Smith’s address was also radical because of her vision of Canada. She made it clear she will continue stoking the flames of separatism unless the other Canadians agree to shrink the role of the federal government down to little more than defence and foreign affairs.

Edmonton is and always will be a vital part of Canada. Premier Smith and the UCP Government's separatist agenda is catastrophic for Edmontonians, Albertans, and all Canadians.

“Premier Danielle Smith announced that she would ask citizens to vote on whether they want to stay in Canada, or hold a referendum to secede.” In the New York Times. Already. RIP investment in Alberta. #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli nytimes.com/2026/05/21/wor…

"You show me an economist who supports Alberta independence and I'll show you an unemployed economist." Employed economist Moshe Lander says the independence movement hasnt show its math on why Alberta would better off alone, adding all evidence says otherwise. He adds that rural Alberta would likely suffer more than urban centres podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/alb…

"Madness. Total madness." -- Bob Fife on federalist premier Danielle Smith putting a separatism question on a ballot and then campaigning against it

“We are at a crossroads in America. Down one path, we’re looking down the dark road to fascism…” Americans are waking up to the reality of Trump’s MAGA movement. We need to wake up, too, because here in Alberta the UCP & separatist are aligned with MAGA.

Massive protests have erupted in Nuuk, Greenland following a visit from Donald Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, and the opening of the new U.S. consulate. The scenes stand in stark contrast to the opening of Canada’s consulate in Nuuk, where a large crowd of Greenlanders gathered to sing “O Canada” and celebrate Canada’s presence.

Jen Gerson: The current polling suggests that support for separatism is somewhere around 30%. What I would remind people is that at one point Brexit only had 20- 30% support. Andrew Nichols on '95 referendum: That was before smartphones, social media. That was before overt interference by a hostile American administration.

@KentBurtWriter @SandyIsCynical I’m more hopeful than you. I grew up in rural Alberta and have worked in the province my entire adult life. I’ve raised my kids here and I intend to retire here. Like millions of others Albertans who oppose the Northern MAGA crowd, I simply will not let the bastards win.

@gilmcgowan @SandyIsCynical Of course they will. We have to vote them out but even that is highly unlikely. Albertans will vote for a rock if you paint it blue.

It’s official. The UCP majority on a special committee of the Legislature has just passed a motion calling for a referendum separation on October 19, 2026. Kudos to NDP MLAs Pancholi, Gray and Ellingson for putting up a noble fight.

If you’re angry about this affront to democracy, or any of the many other outrages perpetrated by this government, join the Provincewide Day of Protest, next Friday, May 29. fightbacknow.civicdeeds.com

What all of this shows is that it’s time for mass protest. We have a rogue, MAGA-influenced and MAGA-aligned government that is thumbing its nose at Albertans and our democracy. The courts and our legislators couldn’t stop them. Now it’s up to us, Alberta citizens.

@KentBurtWriter @SandyIsCynical The referendum is just a symptom of the larger problem, which is that the UCP is turning our province into an anti-democratic MAGA-style outpost. If they get away with running roughshod over the Legislature, the courts and public opinion in this case, they’ll just keep doing it.

@gilmcgowan @SandyIsCynical Let's have the referenDumB and be done with it. We should have no problem winning given the large percentage against separation.