Carney warns of foreign efforts to divide Canada ahead of Alberta referendum

HAMILTON — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned Friday that forces outside Canada were seeking to divide the country ahead of Monday’s referendum on Alberta’s future, urging voters to reject separation and preserve national unity.Speaking at the Forever Canadian Rally in Edmonton, Carney said the referendum was taking place at a particularly dangerous moment for Canada, amid growing global tensions and uncertainty.The vote will ask Albertans whether they want to remain in Canada or proceed with a second, binding referendum on separation.”The world is becoming more dangerous and divided,” Carney told supporters.”Open your eyes. There are some outside our borders who are working to break us, so they can own us. Never, never,” he said.Carney did not identify the foreign actors he accused of seeking to undermine Canadian unity.The prime minister acknowledged that commitments between nations had been broken throughout Canada’s history but argued that political and economic grievances should be resolved through cooperation rather than separation.”When something’s not right, when something’s not fair, we as Albertans, as Canadians, we don’t hide from it, we don’t walk away from it,” he said.”We fix it together, and we become stronger because of it, because that is Alberta, that is Canada,” he added.Turning to economic development, Carney highlighted Alberta’s central role in Canada’s energy sector and outlined plans to strengthen the country’s energy independence.”Canada is building big again. Alberta is at the very heart of it,” he said.He pointed to the Pacific Link pipeline as a key project aimed at expanding Canada’s energy export capacity and reducing its dependence on the United States.”By building the Pacific Link pipeline, we are launching our full energy potential. We are reducing our dependence on the United States,” Carney said.The prime minister urged Albertans to remain part of Canada, framing national unity as essential to the country’s economic development and security.”Now is the time to build, not break. It’s our turn to stand up for Canada,” he said.Carney also called for strong voter participation, stressing that the referendum’s outcome would depend on turnout rather than opinion polls.”Turnout will decide this referendum because polls don’t vote; only people vote,” he said.