How groups tied to U.S. Atlas Network turned a fringe separatist movement in Alberta into a political threat

Separatism has gone from an idea on the margins of the conservative movement to one at the centre of Alberta’s government.

Over the last decade, a cadre of libertarian think tanks has been instrumental in bringing Alberta separatism into the mainstream, promoting the idea through research, conferences, social media and the press. They’ve helped craft government policy to prepare Alberta for independence, and to make the threat of secession a powerful “or else” in the province’s stand-off with Ottawa.