Alberta Premier Danielle Smith believes residents of her Canadian province would reject joining the United States, her press secretary said, days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent weighed in on a possible independence referendum in the region.
¡°The overwhelming majority of Albertans are not interested¡± in statehood, Sam Blackett, a spokesperson for Smith, said in an emailed statement. ¡°The Premier supports a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.¡±
Bessent said in a broadcast interview last week that Alberta is a ¡°natural partner¡± for the U.S., and that he believes it should be allowed to expand oil shipments through the U.S..
¡°They have great resources, the Albertans are very independent people. Rumored that they may have a referendum on whether they want to stay in Canada or not,¡± Bessent said, adding: ¡°People want sovereignty. They want what the U.S. has got.¡±
A petition has been started by separatist activists in Alberta for a referendum on independence from Canada, driven in part by a belief that the government in Ottawa hasn¡¯t done enough to accelerate projects to expand oil production, such as new pipelines.
That sentiment persists even after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged in November that his government would support a new pipeline to the British Columbia coast with a potential capacity of 1 million barrels a day.
Alberta accounts for about 85% of oil production in Canada, the world¡¯s fourth-largest producer.
The majority of that production is exported to the U.S. through pipelines that run through the Midwest region. There¡¯s only one pipeline running through Canada to an ocean port ¡ª the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which the federal government bought and expanded at a cost of more than 30 billion Canadian dollars ($21.9 billion).
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