Last week’s allegations by a top White House official that Canada is interfering in the U.S. midterm elections look to have been a case of what psychologists call projection.
What happened: According to an investigation by The Globe & Mail, U.S. officials and Trump administration allies have developed close ties with some separatist groups in Alberta.
Republican operatives travelled to Alberta earlier this year to advise separatist campaigners on technology used by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to identify and turn out voters.
Meanwhile, separatist leaders met with U.S. officials on several occasions last year in Washington, and reportedly floated the possibility of trading the province’s resources, including water and oil, to the U.S. in exchange for support establishing itself as an independent state.
Zoom out: Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette recently claimed that the U.S. had attempted to negotiate a trade deal directly with her province, a tactic endorsed in a paper published by the Defense Analyses and Research Corporation (DARC), a self-described U.S. defence think tank, outlining a strategy to destabilize and break up Canada.
The strategy document calls for the U.S. to “seek opportunities to support the secessionist movements of Canadian provinces” to “achieve the fragmentation” of Canada.
DARC does not publicize its founders or funding sources, but has published contributions from a number of people with overlapping ties to pro-Trump groups and the U.S. defence sector.
Why it matters: Publicly, the White House has stayed mostly (though not completely) quiet about provincial separatist movements. Below the surface, however, there’s mounting evidence of a concerted effort by political factions close to the Trump administration to destabilize Canada.—TS
