‘A very dangerous bluff’: Mark Carney warns of Brexit-like regret if Alberta leaves Canada

Mark Carney, Canada's prime minister, during a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, May 14, 2026. David Kawai | Bloomberg | Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has labeled oil-rich Alberta's separatist movement a "dangerous bluff" that echoes the U.K.'s Brexit vote of 2016. Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Monday, Carney shared "an observation from experience." "In these separation issues, it is often advanced that, 'vote for this and it's a free option. Vote for this and we will strengthen our hand in future negotiations.' That is a very dangerous bluff," he said. "I saw first-hand what happened in the United Kingdom when the view was, 'vote for this it'll be soft and then we'll negotiate.' And they're still, 10 years later, trying to undo what people didn't think they were voting for but what they ended up having." Last week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced plans for the province to hold a non-binding vote on whether to remain a part of Canada or move ahead with a second binding vote on separation. The vote, which was announced after months of campaigning from separatists in Alberta, is expected to be held in the fall. Supporters of the Stay Free Alberta movement said they had collected more than 300,000 signatures in support of the separatist movement, which is partly guided by a view that Alberta has been overlooked by federal policymakers. …