The pitch began with a prayer.
asserted
pitch → begin → prayer
On an afternoon in late January, Mitch Sylvestre, the leader of Alberta’s most prominent separatist organization, gathered with three of his lieutenants in a boardroom not far from the executive hangars at the Calgary International Airport, where private jets shuttle in and out of the city away from prying eyes.
asserted
jets → gather → eyes
It was a few hours before thousands of Albertans would gather near the city centre at a rally to launch the separatist campaign.
asserted
thousands → gather → campaign
But this meeting, convened behind closed doors a half-hour drive away, was invite only.
asserted
meeting → convene → doors
The Alberta Prosperity Project chose the location to accommodate its guests, Republican political strategists from Michigan who helped Donald Trump win the state in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
asserted
Trump → choose → election
The American delegation travelled to Calgary to sell them on software developed for Republicans to get out the vote – and how it could be used to wrench Alberta from Confederation.
uncertain
it → travel → Confederation
Capable, intelligent people,” Mr. Sylvestre said.
asserted
Sylvestre → say → ?
“We prayed before we started the meeting.”
asserted
we → pray → meeting
Gregory Hartzler, a financial consultant to the Alberta Prosperity Project, attended the gathering and recalled the American attendees as affable fellows in casual clothes.
asserted
Hartzler → attend → clothes
“They could have gone and played nine – they would have been perfectly fine.”
uncertain
they → go → nine
David Parker, an organizer for Alberta separation, brokered the meeting and championed the software.
asserted
Parker → broker → software
Known as 10X Votes, it mines voter lists to identify communities of like-minded people that could be mobilized to potentially swing elections.
uncertain
that → know → elections
“I was blown away by what this can do,” Mr. Parker told a separatist meeting in Edmonton in April, according to video footage of the presentation, where he demonstrated a version adapted for use in Alberta.
uncertain
he → blow → Alberta
He called it “the most effective way I have ever come across to win a campaign.”
asserted
I → call → campaign
His movement needed a boost.
asserted
movement → need → boost
The separatist cause has never made a sustained push past 30 per cent support.
asserted
cause → make → support
For Mr. Parker, the software was the path to victory – one that ultimately resulted in a massive privacy breach involving the sensitive personal data of nearly three million Albertans.
asserted
that → result → Albertans
The breach raised alarms inside Canada’s security agencies, according to a classified document obtained by The Globe and Mail.
uncertain
breach → raise → Globe
But Mr. Parker’s embrace of the Michigan delegation is evidence of something else – a pattern: separatist factions in Alberta eager to engage the U.S. in their plans for secession, and American actors willing to assist, either privately or openly.
asserted
embrace → engage → secession
A Globe and Mail investigation has found that Republican political operatives were on the ground in Alberta this year to assist the separatist campaign in its bid to leave Canada, while harbouring their own aspirations for the province to secede.
asserted
province → find → aspirations
The Globe also found that when Alberta separatist leaders went to Washington to meet with the U.S. State Department, they offered up key assets from the province’s resource portfolio, including access to fresh water and royalties on crude oil, in exchange for help transitioning to independence.
asserted
they → find → independence
Through interviews with The Globe on both sides of the border, people involved in politics, the corporate sector and Alberta’s pursuit of separatism have described persistent efforts by figures in the U.S. administration and conservative political establishment to support groups seeking American expansionism and independence for Alberta.
asserted
people → describe → Alberta
In Washington, the Trump administration has quietly displayed detailed knowledge of Canadian secessionist history, indicating an interest in the outcome of the referendum Oct. 19, in which Albertans will decide whether to pursue independence.
asserted
Albertans → display → independence
At the same time, Alberta sovereignty has become a talking point for senior American leaders and influential conservative voices, giving legitimacy to a separatist cause that might otherwise have been a fringe provincial movement.
uncertain
that → become → cause
Among those U.S. voices are Drew Born and Drew Wierda, the Michigan-based founders of 10X Votes, whose families are well-known Republican royalty.
asserted
families → base → Votes
Mr. Wierda was one of the representatives in the meeting in Calgary, according to Mr. Hartzler, who identified him from a photograph.
uncertain
who → accord → photograph
Meanwhile, Mr. Born, who hails from an influential and wealthy family of Republican donors, has openly called for the U.S. annexation of Alberta.
asserted
who → hail → Alberta
“I pray daily this happens,” Mr. Born wrote on social media in August, regarding Alberta separating from Canada.
asserted
Alberta → pray → Canada
“Me too,” Mr. Parker responded.
asserted
Parker → respond → ?
A series of overtures
The separatists arrived in Washington, D.C., last year armed with a determination to leave Canada and a raft of ideas for how an independent Alberta could instead interlace its future fortunes with the United States.
uncertain
Alberta → arrive → States
New oil pipelines could be built to the Pacific that would travel through Washington state, evading the politically hostile terrain of British Columbia.
uncertain
that → build → Columbia
The loonie holdings of Albertans could be converted at par into American greenbacks, perhaps paid for by offering the U.S. a royalty on Alberta crude, or even a slice of Alberta’s land for a railroad to Alaska.
uncertain
holdings → convert → Alaska
Other repayment deals could be struck with the White House by offering Alberta resources in agriculture, forestry, mining and precious metals.
uncertain
deals → strike → agriculture
An independent Alberta could even offer fresh water to the U.S., Dennis Modry, a former Alberta heart surgeon who is co-founder of the Alberta Prosperity Project, said in an interview.
uncertain
who → offer → interview
“We just brought up water as a possible issue.
asserted
We → bring → issue
Does the U.S. need more water?
asserted
U.S. → need → water
Can Alberta provide some more water to them?” said Dr. Modry.
asserted
Modry → provide → them
Some of the ideas were contained in a document that, Dr. Modry said, put into writing “the potential benefits of Alberta sovereignty to the United States of America – and to Alberta.”
asserted
Modry → contain → Alberta
That document was delivered to U.S. officials last year.
asserted
document → deliver → officials
The separatists met with them at the Harry S. Truman building, the headquarters of the State Department, on April 22, Sept. 29 and Dec. 16.
asserted
separatists → meet → April
…and 196 more, not listed.
The Aporia
