Karen T. 🇨🇦

Living in the never-ending nightmare that is the UCP government’s Alberta. Retired and retiring. She/her. #GoodTwitter

[John Ivison @IvisonJ]

The only acceptable response from a Canadian premier, as the country is pitched into a trade war it did not start or seek, is: “I stand with Canada”. Unless, of course, like Premier Smith, you don’t.

[Mark Dorin @mark_dorin]

Nikiforuk to Premier:

“Let’s be clear: by adding value you mean accelerating the rate at which a finite, polluting resource is consumed so increased demand can drive up the price and put more moolah in the pockets of the gas industry. That’s your game.”

https://t.co/WTCYc1mYrU

[Jon Meddings @JMeddings]

Interesting new Abacus poll. Canadians, including Albertans, are smart.

So what did it show? Well worth a read but a few things stood out to me. /1

https://t.co/mEVoVkmC7b

[Mark Carney @MarkJCarney]

My statement on Canada-U.S. trade negotiations:

[Andries (Andy) Sytsema, I Stand With Canada!🍁 @sytsema_andy]

There’s a lot of confusion circulating about Alberta’s voting system in the lead-up to the referendum.

Let’s be clear: #FactsMatter
Alberta has always used paper ballots. Every election in the province’s history. Voters mark a physical paper ballot. Those ballots are retained and available for recounts.

What some municipalities and Elections Alberta used in recent years were optical-scan tabulators — machines that simply count the already-marked paper ballots. They are not connected to the internet. Scrutineers from all parties can observe the process.

True electronic voting (casting a ballot on a screen with no paper trail) has never been used in Alberta elections.

In 2024 the government banned those counting tabulators, requiring full hand-counts. The stated goal was to increase public confidence.

"Yet government messaging has repeatedly mixed the language of “electronic voting” with “tabulators.” That mixing is what continues to fuel unnecessary confusion and distrust."

Accurate information matters — especially when people are deciding the future of the province.

[Paul Stewart II @PaulStewartII]

Here is a summary Jessica Davis’ article "The Russian Money Behind Alberta's Separatist Movement" published by The Walrus. She is a security analyst and a former analyst at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

It’s a must read.

Davis argues that foreign operations do not need to construct entirely new political movements. Instead, they target existing social and political friction points to weaken democratic institutions.

To counter this, Canada must strengthen inter-agency coordination, tighten loopholes around third-party political financing, and act proactively to interrupt illicit funding channels before political outcomes are impacted.

Overview

The article explores how foreign actors are leveraging and amplifying Alberta's separatist movement to deepen political polarization in Canada.

Unsurprisingly these are primarily Russian disinformation networks alongside US-based conservative influence

Drawing on her background at CSIS, Davis highlights Canada's systemic vulnerabilities in detecting and stopping covert foreign illicit political finance.

1. Foreign Disinformation & Influence Campaigns

Russian Disinformation Playbook: Moscow uses coordinated campaigns (such as the Storm 1516 network and Pravda News Network) to manufacture divisive content, including fake websites like https://t.co/kwIXBrDWE4 and exaggerated claims about federal exploitation.

State Media & Social Amplification: Russian state-backed outlets like RT and Sputnik, along with sympathetic US social media influencers on YouTube, X, and Rumble, amplify fringe separatist narratives to make them appear mainstream.

AI & "Slopaganda": Research from McGill University's Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy identified networks of YouTube channels using
✔️AI avatars,
✔️synthetic voices, and
✔️paid American actors
to push Alberta secession rhetoric.

Thus blurring the line between organic local debate and coordinated foreign manipulation.

2. Exploiting Gaps in Political Financing

Regulatory Loopholes: While registered political parties and third-party advertisers in Alberta face strict rules limiting donations to provincial residents or corporations, non-registered organizations operate with minimal oversight.

Unregistered Entities: Groups such as the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) frame themselves as "educational initiatives," allowing them to accept funds without disclosing donor identities or adhering to political contribution limits.

Techniques for Obscuring Money Trails: Hostile foreign state actors can bypass provincial reporting mechanisms using front companies, "bundled" small donations, money mules, in-kind contributions, and complex corporate structures.

3. Overlapping Organizational Structures

The article identifies multiple separatist and sovereignty advocacy entities in Western Canada e.g.,
✔️Take Back Alberta,
✔️Stay Free Alberta,
✔️Centurion Project,
✔️Free Alberta Strategy
that share common board members, mailing addresses, and legal counsel. This makes it difficult to track where operational control and funding originate.

4. Institutional Vulnerabilities in Canada

Fragmented Oversight: Canada lacks a single, integrated authority tasked with detecting and disrupting illicit foreign political financing. Responsibilities are split across CSIS, FINTRAC, the RCMP, and provincial election bodies.

Delayed Reporting: Financial contribution disclosures through election authorities can take up to a year to process.

This means covert foreign financial influence is often discovered long after the debate or vote has been shaped.

https://t.co/cQPHyueh6U

[Missellie @Missellie19]

#Datacentre

Another interesting take on Data centre town hall Lacombe

[MondoAB @MondoABx]

We need a fucking moratorium!

[🇨🇦 Henri A 🇨🇦 @HenriAGS]

The Canada Health Act is the law of the land, as toothless as it may be

I think it's time to give it teeth and to use it as it was meant to be used: to protect all Canadians from the folly of Modern Conservatives

[Ubaka Ogbogu @UbakaOgbogu]

Actually, it does violate the CHA, both in the letter and spirit of the law. But that's beside the point, really. This is a distraction from the fact that healthcare in Alberta is basically shit at the moment and your government is to blame for it.

[Leslie Kasza @kasza_leslie]

Let me be equally clear. Provincial jurisdiction relies on compliance with the Canada Health Act, which requires the provinces to appropriately fund the public health care system. The UCP has clearly demonstrated intent to dismantle and underfund the public health care system as well as promote private health care. This is a violation of the Canada Health Act, as is allowing dual practice when there is already a significant shortage of well trained health professionals, including physicians and nurses, in Alberta and Canada. Stop with the ideological nonsense, malice and dereliction of duty immediately, govern appropriately and implement concrete steps to rebuild Alberta’s public health care system.

[Timothy Caulfield @CaulfieldTim]

📣 Dear Alberta Separatists,

You are being manipulated. 👇

Russian, U.S. interests are targeting Alberta’s separatist debate, Canadian research shows https://t.co/9iHHvBIcdv

"...Russian content farms have been pushing pro-separatist content..."

[The Breakdown @TheBreakdownAB]

“Canadian researchers using artificial intelligence to track foreign interest in the Alberta separatism debate have found the province’s political discourse is being targeted online by Russian and American interests in both overt and covert ways.”

#abpoli https://t.co/leobxRCHti

[MnM @AnothrWTFmoment]

@howardanglin GOA refuses to follow the Canadian Health Care Act, they know funding will be reduced. This isnt new news for Danielle Smith.. she knows this.. will use it to her advantage

[The Breakdown @TheBreakdownAB]

No show tonight tweeps!

Got a special substack we're gonna be pushing out the door tomorrow morning that needs some attention!

But you aren't going to want to miss Thursday when we drop the most shocking interview episode we've done yet!

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

[GP Dalton @gdalton64]

@sisuvanhell

[Karen T. 🇨🇦 @Minusgreen11]

@gdalton64 @sisuvanhell This. Exactly this. Just following through on her plan.

[J.M. Hamilton @jmhamiltonblog]

I've been a political junkie since I was six...

Watched the nightly news and read volumes.

As I near 63 years of age, I have to be honest.

I've never seen this level of corruption, incompetence, neglect, abuse of taxpayer dollars, and sheer hate ... by a politician... directed at her constituents ???

You really have to see it first hand.

[Timothy Caulfield @CaulfieldTim]

📣 Hey Separatists,

Enough with the conspiracy-theory-fuelled rage‼️

Separatists are NOT channelling the authentic voice of the province. They are projecting a vision of Alberta that reflects their own anxieties & ideological bile.

My take https://t.co/a1Z4dq1Tbo @thewalrus

[Rural Albertan 🇨🇦♥️ @albertan_rural]

💯 this.