Far-left Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed fears the United States is trying to break Canada so it can “own us” and thereby gain control of the resource-rich country, urging voters in Alberta on Thursday to reject the path toward devolution in the upcoming referendum.
AP reports the ballot is not a direct referendum on independence. Alberta, which has the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves, will decide whether to remain a province or instruct the government to begin the legal process toward a future referendum on separation.
“This referendum comes at the worst possible time,” Carney told a large pro-Canada rally in Calgary, per the AP report. “The world has become more dangerous and divided. Some outside our borders are working to break us so they can own us.”
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The career banker and bureaucrat did not directly mention the U.S. or its President Donald Trump in that passage, but has done so in similar past speeches and the inference was clear.
AP further notes Carney’s warning came as Trump wages a trade war with Canada and after his repeated threats to make it the 51st U.S. state, stating Canada is one of the worst nations in the world to deal with on matters of trade, as Breitbart News reported.
Carney has argued Canada needs to become more economically resilient and less dependent on its neighbor to the south as its own economic output continues to stall.
The country shed 110,000 jobs in the past two monthly jobs reports, with the unemployment rate edging up to 6.5 percent.
Carney urged Albertans not to use the vote simply to send Ottawa a message, saying a decisive result could settle the separation question.
“Don’t be fooled by the idea you can ‘send a message’ with your vote,” Carney said. “This is not poker. A vote against Canada is a dangerous bluff that will lead to years of deep division and great uncertainty.”
Carney, who had never held public office before being hand-picked to take over the prime ministership of Canada by predecessor Justin Trudeau, began his term by announcing he would end the historic friendship between Canada and America.
He declared, “there will be no turning back” and that Canada’s interests require it to “dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
