EDMONTON — Prominent Alberta independence advocate Jeffrey Rath took centre stage in a spat between Premier Danielle Smith and Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi on Thursday, with both leaders attempting to tie the polarizing nationalist leader to their opposition. The debate centred around text messages Rath shared on Tuesday, in which Smith supposedly advised him and Mitch Sylvestre in June 2025 to delay filling their pro-Alberta independence referendum citizen initiative petition application until the new legislation took effect. .Nenshi asked Smith about these messages on Wednesday, and the premier said she spoke with multiple people interested in filing a citizen initiative petition while the process was transitioning between legislations. The duo resumed their debate on Thursday, with Nenshi asking whether Smith is in the habit of telling her "purported political enemies" what to do to fulfill what she promised them. "There were a number of different groups coming forward trying to figure out when they file," said Smith. "Do they file under the new rules? Do they file under the old rules? It's my job to help explain when legislation and regulations are coming, and I did that." .Nenshi then asked whether the UCP caucus knew that their "boss had this close relationship with separatist leaders." Smith reiterated that she met with multiple potential petition proponents, including "Water Not Coal" leader Corb Lund. Their verbal sparring round concluded with Nenshi resurfacing a pair of quotes from Rath and Sylvestre that have drawn some public criticism. "These are the premier's friends," said Nenshi. "These are the people she gives her cell phone number to. These are the people she tells what to do in her own words. These are the people she's directing. These are the people she's changing the law for. Did any member of her caucus know that she actually works for the separatists?" Smith spun Nenshi's remarks and returned fire by pointing out that Rath previously donated $1,723 to the Alberta NDP under former premier Rachel Notley in 2015 and 2016. Conversely, Rath donated $1,758 to the UCP in 2023 and 2024, and $2,000 to Jim Prentice's 2014 byelection campaign."He's actually an NDP supporter, Mr. Speaker, and so maybe the member opposite should answer for his statements," Smith said. .The Western Standard spoke to Rath after the exchange, and he shut down both leaders' arguments. "I don't even know what to say to that," said Rath. "Danielle knows better, and it's what you'd expect. She has no other response, frankly. 'Oh, Jeff Rath is a secret communist.' Okay, sure. You know, my politics haven't changed, and my views on economics haven't changed in 40 years." Rath said his Alberta NDP contributions came after his former political-science classmate, Notley, won the party's leadership, and one of the lawyers from his office bought $900 tickets for them to attend a party event. "Shook Rachel's hand, congratulated her on becoming leader, or whatever it was, and then I left, and then David stayed to hang out with all the NDP people," Rath said. "I've never been a member of the NDP. I don't support the NDP. You know, if buying a ticket to a leader's event makes somebody a card-carrying member or supporter of that party, I don't even know what to say to that." .Rath told the Western Standard in September that he attended Alberta NDP events to talk with Notley and people in her government about cases his law firm was working on. He also donated $8,549 to the federal Liberals between 2004 and 2016. Conversely, he donated $7,945 to the Conservative Party of Canada between 2007 and 2025, with the large majority coming post-2019.Rath told the Western Standard in December that those donations were made to help him get access while he was settling 'multi-billion-dollar' files between aboriginal groups and the federal government."Any political donations that I've made over the years have been done in the course of business of my law firm that advocates on behalf of First Nations people in Canada," Rath said in September."Over the years, I have donated to every political party in power, including the CPC, and over the years, I have donated far more money to the CPC than I have to any other political party. Period.".The nationalist also dismissed the idea that Smith helped the Alberta independence movement or offered guidance on their citizen initiative petition. "For Nenshi to suggest that Premier Smith is, somehow or other, on our side, no," Rath said. "She was literally trying to fool all of us into believing that she was on our side while she was actually working with Lukaszuk and doing everything that she could to make sure that our petition process and the referendum did not succeed." He cited examples, including Smith having nine other questions on Alberta’s October 19 referendum, and the UCP introducing the ability for the Alberta government to amend a citizen initiative question. “All of the questions that they brought in were designed to confuse people and to confuse the issue," Rath said. "Because obviously, if people are voting to give Danielle the power to discuss constitutional changes with Canada, it flies in the face of a clear question on independence from Canada. You can't do both at the same time.”.Rath offered his perspective on the text exchange with Smith, saying the premier's text came "out of the blue" and that she had never offered him or Sylvestre guidance on their petition. "I wasn't texting her or talking to her about the petition process, the new legislation, whatever," Rath said. "It wouldn't even cross my mind to do that. We know what the new legislation said. We knew what we were doing. We didn't need to talk to Danielle about the legislation." The unexpectedness of Smith's message is part of what makes Rath believe her text was meant for Forever Canadian leader Thomas Lukaszuk, despite the premier telling him otherwise. "I thought people needed to know how duplicitous she was and how sneaky she was in terms of pretending to be on side with people that are favouring independence while secretly trying to help Thomas Lukaszuk and get Lukaszuk's petition over the goal line, which is effectively what she did," Rath said. .Lukaszuk spoke on Wednesday to Rath's claims in an X post addressed to Smith. The Forever Canadian leader claimed a current UCP cabinet minister tipped him off about the upcoming legislation changes. "You collaborated with Jeff Rath and Mitch Sylvestre and helped with their separatist petition," wrote Lukaszuk. "You underestimated Forever Canadian volunteers. We got nearly twice the required number of signatures." The UCP's Citizen Initiative Act amendments were introduced in April 2025, received Royal Assent in May 2025, and took effect on July 4, 2025. Lukaszuk submitted his petition application on June 30, 2025. Smith's text to Rath is time-stamped June 30, 2025.
