Alberta’s separatist rumblings are often framed as the latest chapter in a decades-old constitutional quarrel with Ottawa. But let’s be honest: the current rhetoric has little to do with fiscal policy or a West-versus-feds division of power. The noise is largely coming from a small cohort (only 8 percent of Albertans “would definitely vote to leave”) steeped in conspiracy-theory-fuelled grievance.

Much of that grievance is seen through the lens of immigration.

Start with Mitch Sylvester, chief executive officer of the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP). A key voice in the movement, Sylvester openly embraces the far-fetched and racist great replacement theory—the idea that evil elites are trying to replace, as Sylvester puts it, “old stock white Canadians.” He has also suggested that citizenship should be restricted to “people who are born here.” Other prominent APP individuals claim the feds are pushing a “jihadist extremist population” on Canada (this from the same person who thinks “the Marxists, they’re here and trying to get our kids”).

To call this language a dog whistle is an insult to dog whistles. There is nothing subtle about how Alberta separatists scapegoat immigrants. Of course, not everyone interested in breaking away endorses xenophobic theories. But such ideas no longer stay on the fringes. They are now aired, repeated, and—crucially—normalized by the political mainstream. Alberta Conservatives are leaning into the MAGA strategy of treating newcomers and temporary workers as a source of social problems, exemplified by Premier Danielle Smith’s recent call for a referendum on “out-of-control” immigration to the province.