There’s a MAGA movement to the North, though it’s “Make Alberta Great Again’. Unhappy Canadians there are making a bold move to try to separate the province from the rest of Canada. Some say that could strengthen America’s ties with our oil-rich neighbors to the north. Scott Thuman reports from Calgary, Canada.

The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.

On the side of an Alberta highway, a drive of a different kind. a voter one. residents putting their names behind a new movement to separate Alberta from the rest of Canada.

Woman: I want out of Canada so bad. So bad that I think I’m going to move if we don’t separate because it’s gotten so bad. The economy’s bad. The liberal government is bad. But you know, everybody in the West, except for BC, they all want a conservative government.

She’s just the latest, but not the last, signing a petition to trigger a province-wide vote for Alberta’s succession, or independence, this fall.

Jeffrey Rath is with the Alberta Prosperity Project, the group spearheading the secession movement. He says Albertans are fed up with the status quo.

Jeffrey Rath: So it’s one of these strange circumstances where Canada needs Alberta a lot more than Alberta needs Canada. We can exist quite happily without Canada, like much happier without Canada, right? And as an example, that’s one of the big things that they throw out against Alberta independence. “Oh, you’re going to be landlocked. “Well, wait a minute, boys and girls, we’re landlocked now, right?

Alberta is one of Canada’s 10 provinces, known as the country’s energy hub because of its abundant oil, sometimes called the Texas of Canada, not just for the black gold, but also because it’s one of this country’s most conservative provinces.

Scott: There are plenty of people who might hear someone say, “We want our independence.” And there are a lot of people who, upon hearing that, would say, “Well, that sounds like a crazy idea.”

Jeffrey Rath: Yeah. Well, that’s kind of funny. It’s like, “I’d like to leave home.” It’s like, “That’s kind of silly. Shouldn’t you live in your mom’s basement your entire life?” That’s kind of my response to that. I mean, for Albertans, I think it’s … We could literally, the day we declared ourselves independent from Canada, would be the country with the highest GDP per capita in the world, right? You look at Alberta, we have the third-largest oil resource in the world, right? We have more barrels by a factor of two or three; we have three times more barrels of oil per capita than Saudi Arabia has.

Fueling the debate: a currently coarse relationship between Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney and President Trump, especially after this suggestion from the president

President Trump: Look, what I’d like to see is Canada become our 51st state, we give them protection, military protection,

Prime Minister Mark Carney:

Scott: Do you want to be part of the United States?

Jeffrey Rath: No, absolutely not. I mean, when I first went down to the States, it was kind of almost tongue-in-cheek. And of course, that garnered a lot of media attention.

Highlighting the divide between the two allies, ongoing trade disputes hitting Canadian products, and a sharp drop in u-s visits by Canadian visitors impacting American tourism. The most recent pain point, a new six-billion-dollar bridge between Michigan and Ontario that Canada paid for, and which President Trump has threatened to forbid from opening. writing in part on Truth Social: ‘I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve.’

The current independence movement in Alberta isn’t the first for Canada. The French-speaking province of Quebec began a more radical separatist movement in the 1960’s, even sparking incidents of domestic terrorism, but every secession vote in Canada has failed to get enough voter support

Scott: If this gets onto a ballot, you still need some big numbers. You’re at what, 30-

Jeffrey Rath: 34% ish

Scott: In favor.

Jeffrey Rath: But again, as far as that goes, we’re confident that we can get to well over 50%. Our support is rock solid, right? Compared to people on the other side of the equation, right? Are you going to get 100% of them to turn out to vote? Probably not. We’re going to get 100% of our people out to vote. I can tell you that.

On the streets of Calgary, polarizing opinions.

Scott: You have any thoughts on this debate about whether or not Alberta should vote to become independent or not?

Man :I think it’s insanely stupid. And if you have a Canadian passport and believe that, you should probably give up your passport and just walk to Montana

Scott: So you’re in favor of it?

Man: Big time, yeah! We got to put a stop to all the left-wing right-wing to all this, this, and that. No, we have to stop the taxes, high taxes, stop the high tax cost of living.

Scott: The idea of being independent is one thing. The idea of being part of America would be a completely second step. What do you make of that?

Woman: No, I don’t believe in that. That’s just garbage.

Scott: Too far for you.

Woman: Yeah. Way too far off.

Jeff Rath and his group have alienated some by openly courting members of the trump administration, provoking the ire of the Premier of British Columbia, another Canadian province.

David Eby: In my opinion, that is treasonous activity, and it needs to be called out. It needs to be stopped. I’m talking about crossing the border, soliciting the assistance of a foreign government to break up this country.

Scott: We’ve heard a criticism that your meeting with US officials could be seen as treason.

Jeffrey Rath: That’s ridiculous.I mean, we’re private citizens. We can go meet with whoever the hell we want. And of course that translates into,” That’s treasonous, Rath is a traitor, blah, blah, blah. “And I just laughed at it because it just demonstrates that we’re taking their power away, and they really, really resent it.

A power struggle that could reshape the map and economics for North America.

Sharyl: What’s the timeline on all that?

Scott: The secession movement in Alberta is confident that they’re going to get the 177,732 signatures they need by next month’s deadline. If they do that, it goes to the voters in Alberta in October. And then if they get a clear majority, the succession talks could actually begin with the federal government.

Sharyl: I can’t wait to see how that turns out.

Scott: It’ll be interesting.

Watch the video here.