Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has answered after Elon Musk said Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan should leave Canada. “The future of Canada will be decided by Canadians,” Carney said on Thursday, October 8, in Sherbrooke, Quebec, AP reported. AP describes Musk as South African-born Canadian-American.
What Musk posted
On Wednesday, Musk replied on X to a post about Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, whom AP calls Quebec’s premier-designate, who had said independence would come one day. Musk wrote “Good. Quebec should separate,” and added that Alberta and Saskatchewan should separate too, CP24 reported. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe rejected the idea in a one-word reply.
What Carney and others said
Carney spoke at Dettson, an HVAC maker, at an announcement of a $2 billion heat pump rebate program, CP24 said. He said Canada should be free from interference by foreign governments and by large technology firms that think they can tell Canadians what to do. The remarks reported by AP and CP24 do not include him naming Musk. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she will vote to remain in Canada in Alberta’s October 19 vote, according to Global News and AP.
The background
The Parti Québécois won Quebec’s October 5 election with about 28% of the vote and no majority, AP reports. Its leader has promised a referendum as early as 2029, according to CP24. McGill University’s Daniel Béland said the result was driven more by a wish to remove the previous government than by support for separation, AP reports.
Our take: Musk was answering a party that won about 28% and no majority, and a referendum is not promised before 2029. The vote that is actually coming is Alberta’s on October 19. Carney’s reply came at a heat-pump event and was about foreign governments and big technology companies in general, not Musk by name. Both sides are making claims about the future, so read this as an argument, not a decision.
