Internal strife erupts within Alberta separatist movement

Just days after the fall referendum, cracks are being revealed within Alberta’s separatist movement.

On Thursday — three days after the Oct. 19 referendum — members of the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) took to social media to announce its board removed two prominent leaders within the separation movement.

Christopher Scott, founder of Let’s Talk Alberta, in a Facebook video said on Sept. 14 the board removed Mitch Sylvestre as the CEO of APP and terminated Jeffrey Rath as legal counsel. In a later social media post on X, Scott posted a notice of decision from the board of directors which said on Sept. 24 the board removed Rath and Sylvestre as directors.

Both Sylvestre and Rath have denied the removal.

“I refuse to allow the work that thousands of people did and the hundreds of thousands of dollars that people donated to the Alberta Prosperity Project meant to be used to advance education on Alberta independence to be turned into a political weapon to achieve a political outcome for a small group of people,” Scott said.

“I will not allow two bullies that have zero respect for those members or the people that put in the hard work to do that.”

The decision to announce the change until after the referendum was to not distract from the vote, said Tanya Clemens, co-chair of Let Alberta Decide, on X.

The same day Scott released his video on Facebook, Sylvestre chaired the APP town hall on Thursday night discussing next steps for the separation movement.

I had sincerely hoped that this matter could be resolved privately. In the interest of protecting the integrity and unity of Alberta’s independence and sovereignty movements, every effort was made to reach a resolution behind closed doors. Unfortunately, those efforts have been… pic.twitter.com/CjEwG6gbw1

— Chris Scott | The Whistle Stop Cafe (@WScafemirror) October 22, 2026

When Sylvestre was asked if both he and Rath were removed from APP, Sylvestre said no. He said neither Clemens or Scott were ever members of the board and had no authority to dismiss anyone.

“I would never have a fight in public about any of our internal stuff, and I’m going to hold that line. I’m not going to disparage anybody. I’m not going to do that because…it’s going to literally make us all look like we’re freaking crazy,” Sylvestre said.

He urged those who joined the town hall to buy a UCP membership and attend the upcoming annual general meeting in Calgary at the end of November. He said the next steps to independence was through politics and entering government.

“You have to be in the room with power to address power and if you want to get your way, there’s no other path here unless we get into government,” Sylvestre said.

“If you’re buying a UCP membership, you are not buying it to support the UCP. You’re buying it to support our cause for independence.”

Sylvestre says he views the upcoming annual general meeting an an opportunity to build influence and vote for people who are pro-separation to the provincial board.

In a back-and-forth exchange between Rath and Scott on X Thursday evening, Rath said neither Scott or Clemens were “lawfully registered” as board members at the time the “imaginary meetings” were held.

Scott responded by citing the bylaws and both he and Clemens were elected under such.

“I’m not sure why you both felt you needed to have this discussion on social media … but as they say… you will know them by their deeds,” Rath said on X.

Postmedia has reached out to APP for comment.