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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says outsiders like billionaire Elon Musk suggesting that the province should separate from Canada are out of touch.
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Musk on Wednesday responded to a post from prediction market platform Polymarket on his social media platform X regarding the possibility of Quebec separating from Canada after it elected the sovereigntist Parti Quebecois to a minority government.
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“They would be better off,” he wrote of Quebec leaving Canada, adding, “Alberta and Saskatchewan should separate too.”
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Speaking on her call-in radio show Saturday morning, the premier responded to a text message suggesting she should heed advice Musk’s advice.
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“I don’t know that outsiders commenting on this have really been all that helpful with the debate,” she said.
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“I hear more backlash when Americans weigh in on our debate here. I think this is for Albertans to decide. They’ll get a chance on Oct. 19.”
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Smith earlier responded to Musk’s statement, saying that the province remaining in Canada is its best path forward.
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On Saturday, she said on her travels around the province, no one is keen on joining the United States, something separatist leaders have said they aren’t immediately pursuing though reports of their meetings with American lawmakers has raised questions.
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“When I travel around the province, no one says, ‘Gee, I want to I want to be a 51st state. I want to join America.’ No one says, ‘Gee, let’s be independent so that we can give our resources and our water to the United States.’ Those are not things that people are saying,” Smith told her radio audience.
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On the heels of Musk’s comments, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe similarly shot down the notion, posting simply “no.”
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On Oct. 19, voters in Alberta will have the chance to answer the question: “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”
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Musk’s post Wednesday was not the first time he has shown support of Alberta separatism.
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Last April, he posted a reply on X reading “yeah” in response to a post from Take Back Alberta founder and separatist advocate David Parker, saying independence is the only way to save what is left of Canada.
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Musk, a former adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, was born to a Canadian mother in South Africa, holds Canadian citizenship, and has lived in Saskatchewan, B.C., and Ontario.
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— With files from Ellie Hutchings
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