EDMONTON — Former Conservative MP Chris Alexander claims that U.S. President Donald Trump, and by default, Russian President Vladimir Putin, are driving the Alberta independence movement to create dissent in the province, combat democracy, and distract from Russia's war in Ukraine. "I mean, the most visible, the only visible supporters who have clout of that movement are members of the administration or members of the MAGA movement," said Alexander in an interview on The OShow with Laura Babcock."There really are no serious Canadians that have standing in Alberta society or across the country, that are championing this movement. It is a bunch of Yahoos from inside the beltway and across the United States that are funding this, that are whipping this up.".U.S. support for Alberta independence has been discussed over recent months, with reports that leaders of the independence movement have met with U.S. officials to discuss how the country would stand with an independent Alberta. Trump has reportedly been connected to Russian and Putin dating back to his first term in office, and Alexander points to him as an example of how Russian influence has dampened democracy in one of the world's leading nations.Which is why Alexander argues that the Alberta independence movement is being driven and manipulated by Putin, largely via the U.S., in his plan to combat democracy and weaken the nations that oppose Russia. "I think a lot of them are useful idiots being used by these larger forces, MAGA, Russia, etc, to stir dissent and division in Canada," said Alexander in an interview on The OShow with Laura Babcock. "I wouldn't be surprised if we find that some of them are very conscious of the support that they're getting from the pro-Russia side of MAGA, which is extremely influential and which played a role in our truckers' blockade."The CBC and public officials have speculated that Russia played a role and meddled with Canadian freedom convoy protests in 2022, largely due to their media coverage of the events, and Alexander argues that the same thing is happening again. He said that all individuals need to do to see Russia's connection to the movement is look at how Russian-owned media, such as Pravda, cover it. "They love it," Alexander said. "You know, we can't get, thankfully, Russia Today on our cable packages. I try to avoid watching the thing at all. But if I Google Russia today and Alberta separatists, they're all over it.""They still have a permanent page about the truckers' blockade, because they saw that as their greatest triumph in Canada in a very long time, and this is what they do." .Alexander is grateful that they "don't have a lot of real traction" in Canada. However, he said that Russia's interference goes beyond Canada. "They've supported separatists in all lots of parts of the world where they think it serves their agenda, which is to weaken that country which is a democracy or an adversary in their view, or a supporter of Ukraine," Alexander said. Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in 2014, when it occupied and annexed Crimea, and since then, it has been in a battle to reclaim the former Soviet territory. Simultaneously, Alexander argues that Russia has been funding and driving right-wing extremist movements across Europe and North America to fight against democracy and silence the nations that could stand in the way of their victory in Ukraine. "They had prepared these networks, but they leaned into it because they wanted to divide European public opinion," Alexander said. "They wanted to ensure there wasn't a strong response to what they were doing then. And Canada, at the time we've discussed this before, was the only country that wanted relatively strong sanctions and was prepared to start training the Ukrainian army on the ground in Ukraine and so forth.""So they went to work influencing our democracy and undermining our democracy long ago." .Under Trump, the U.S. has danced around intervening to stop Russia's invasion in Ukraine, which is part of Putin's plan, and Alexander said that nations around the world need to relinquish the idea that he is ever going to do so. Instead, Alexander said that the key to stopping Russia's interference in the world's democratic processes is for the other countries in NATO to step up and shut down their war in Ukraine. "If they don't stop Putin, the far right will have Putin joining them to come at them and the sovereignty of their countries, right?" Alexander said. "So, if you don't put everything into the fight now, it's going to be so much worse and so much more expensive down the line."
