Analyst warns Eby’s language could push some ‘separatist-curious’ Albertans to become fully separatist

B.C. Premier David Eby is not backing down after calling the Alberta separatist movement seeking foreign assistance an act of treason — but one analyst is warning against using such serious language during a time where Canada needs to stand united.

Eby’s comments last week came amid meetings with fellow Canadian leaders in Ottawa, in response to reports that members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration have met with members of the Alberta Prosperity Project, a group pushing for Alberta to become independent.

The group is seeking a $500-billion US line of credit from the U.S. Treasury to help bankroll the new country if they are successful in a referendum. An official with the U.S. State Department confirmed the meetings, but said “no commitments were made.”

“To go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there’s an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason,” Eby said last Thursday.

In an interview on CBC’s The Early Edition on Monday, the premier doubled down on his comments.