Canada’s separatist movements, China’s neurotech push, and Britain’s bug highways

On the day of a non-binding referendum in Alberta on whether the oil-rich province should remain part of Canada, The Economist’s Robert Rousseau described the moment as one of “maximum peril” for the country and for Prime Minister Mark Carney. “I’ve never seen a Prime Minister who’s facing as many challenges simultaneously as Mr. Carney is facing,” Rousseau said. Those challenges include a trade war with the United States, a resurgent separatist movement in Quebec, and the Alberta vote itself—a test of whether western grievance has hardened into something more dangerous for Canadian unity.

Two separatisms, one country

The separatist sentiment in Alberta and Quebec spring from different sources, but both are putting pressure on the federal government at a time when Canada can least afford internal division. In Alberta, the grievance is economic and cultural. The province sits on more oil than anywhere else in North America, yet for the past decade, Rousseau said, the Liberal government under Justin Trudeau “has been hostile to the development of those resources.” Albertans feel like “the rich and unwanted stepchild of the Canadian Federation,” contributing heavily to a central government 3,000 kilometers away that they believe does not understand their “frontier capitalist” ethos.