BC Separatists Met in Campbell River. So Did Pro-Canada Protesters

When Monica Judd heard about a Campbell River meeting promoting a “serious discussion” about B.C. independence, she knew she wanted to make her voice heard in opposition.

“I have a group of people that I talk politics with and we brought it up in our group. People felt that it was kind of insignificant,” Judd said.

“But I was kind of thinking, the insignificance and the ignoring it was kind of what we did when we got a conservative municipal government, and we got a provincial [MLA] and a federal MP as well, all Conservative.”

So on a rainy Monday night, Judd and a few dozen protesters gathered outside a hall in the north Vancouver Island town. The protesters carried Canadian flags and signs that read “One Country, One Future.” They were joined by Tanille Johnston, a federal NDP leadership candidate, and Michele Babchuk, NDP MLA for the riding until the 2024 election.

The idea of “Wexit” — that some or all of the western Canadian provinces should separate from Canada — has been around for a long time.

But with the Alberta separatist movement gathering steam and heading towards a possible referendum and Canada’s sovereignty repeatedly threatened by the Donald Trump administration, Judd said there was a strong motivation to protest the meeting.

Alberta separatists say they have had multiple meetings with U.S. government officials and are seeking a $500-billion backstop from the United States to help the transition if a referendum goes ahead and is successful.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last month called Alberta “a natural partner for the U.S.” while speaking about the possibility the province could have a referendum on separating.

In response to media reports about Alberta separatists meeting with U.S. officials, B.C. Premier David Eby called the separatist effort in Alberta “treason.”

With separatism talk popping up in her small-town community, Judd said she wanted to send a message.

“It’s a time for unity, and it was unity across party lines as well,” she said of the Feb. 2 protest in Campbell River. “We were a non-partisan protest — people were coming out of the woodwork to say that this is ridiculous for anybody to be talking about separatism when we have such a threat [from] our neighbours in the U.S. and so much volatility everywhere.”

The Tyee reached out to Peter Letourneux, one of the members of the BC Prosperity Project Facebook group, with an interview request for this story. We did not get a response, but in a Jan. 25 post he explained why he created the Facebook group.

“Both Alberta and Saskatchewan will soon enough become independent of Canada. Both have used a Prosperity project to get the word out and spread to others,” Letourneux wrote.

“As B.C. will be the only Western province left to feed Ottawa and pay for Quebec, this will leave B.C. in a, to say the least, difficult position as it will be subservient to a national capital 4,000 km away.”

During the meeting in Campbell River, Letourneux talked about the high cost of groceries, unaffordable housing and crime, according to reporting by the Campbell River Mirror.

The B.C. group’s name matches the Alberta Prosperity Project, a group that has been advocating for a separate Alberta.

Its Facebook page has about 14,300 members and frequently expresses support for B.C. separating from Canada or joining a separate Alberta and Saskatchewan.

On Thursday the page administrators posted a message describing the group’s purpose.

“We do not want to leave Canada or British Columbia,” the post said. “But we recognize that Canada and B.C. have left many people behind — economically, socially, and politically.”

The mission of the group, it says, is to “clarify why independence and a Constitutional Republic deserve serious discussion” and “promote pathways toward greater provincial self-determination.” In the days since the in-person meeting in Campbell River, the group has been talking about holding town hall meetings in the Facebook group.

The Campbell River meeting also got the attention of Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed, who represents the riding of Vancouver Granville.

On the social media site X, Noormohamed called on Aaron Gunn, the Conservative MP for North Island-Powell River, which includes Campbell River, to “clarify [his] position on separatism” following a message in which Gunn criticized Eby for labelling Alberta separatists as treasonous.

Gunn replied that Noormohamed's comment was out of line.

“Just found out Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed publicly questioned my patriotism and loyalty to Canada,” Gunn wrote. “Well, while Taleeb was busy flipping homes in Vancouver and living in the United States, I was serving in Canada's military. And while Taleeb and his Liberals were busy tearing down Canadian history, I was fighting to defend it.”

Noormohamed said he would still like to hear a clear statement from Gunn that he does not agree B.C., Alberta or any other province should separate from Canada.

“I think every MP who represents a B.C. riding should be able to state they believe in a united Canada. It shouldn’t be that hard,” Noormohamed told The Tyee.

Gunn did not reply to a request for comment.

At the federal Conservative convention in Calgary last month, leader Pierre Poilievre pledged to unite the country and blamed growing separatist sentiment on Liberal government policies.