Carney Says Alberta Vote on Referendum to Secede a ‘Dangerous Bluff’

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s decision to add a referendum question to the province’s Oct. 19 referendum ballot could “backfire,” comparing it UK’s Brexit vote a decade ago.

Carney told reporters in Ottawa on May 25 that separation votes can be presented as a way to “strengthen your hand in a future negotiation,” but that this can be a “very dangerous bluff.”

“I saw firsthand 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,” Carney said. ---More...

Mark Carney puts Alberta on notice:

"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 your our hand in a future negotiation. That is a very dangerous bluff. That is a very dangerous bluff."

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— Kirk Lubimov (@KirkLubimov)May 25, 2026

Mark Carney puts Alberta on notice:

"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 your our hand in a future negotiation. That is a very dangerous bluff. That is a very dangerous bluff."