There is still a chance, however remote, that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith comes to her senses and realizes the risks associated with a separatist referendum aren’t worth the rewards they offer to her political career. But I certainly wouldn’t bet on it, and I doubt Prime Minister Mark Carney will either. And while overt federal involvement in any separatist referendum would be almost guaranteed to backfire, there are things Ottawa can and should do to protect Canada — and Alberta — from repeating the errors of Brexit, where a foreign-funded disinformation campaign helped deliver a result few initially thought possible. 

That begins with a clear declaration that foreign interference will not be tolerated in any Alberta referendum campaign and that only Albertans have the right to ultimately decide the province’s future. Protecting our cognitive sovereignty — that is, our right to engage in conversations and arrive at decisions free from outside meddling — must therefore be the federal government’s first priority. As a new study from the Global Center for Democratic Resilience’s Marcus Kolga and Jennie Phillips argues, “when external actors amplify separatist narratives, normalize annexation, encourage national rupture, or undermine confidence in democratic processes, the issue is no longer only a matter of provincial politics. It becomes a direct threat to Canada’s democratic integrity.”

Those external actors are already hard at work — and have been for some time now. As the report notes, Russian state media........

© National Observer