Alberta separatists, Michigan Republican operatives and the Centurion Project voter-list breach

Case

An Oct. 3, 2026 Globe and Mail investigation reported that Republican operatives from Michigan travelled to Calgary in January 2026 to pitch voter-targeting software (10X Votes) to Alberta separatists, and that separatist leaders met U.S. State Department officials in Washington. Weeks later, David Parker launched the Centurion Project, which Elections Alberta says made unauthorized use of the Republican Party of Alberta's copy of the provincial voter list covering nearly three million people. Participants dispute parts of the account, and no evidence has been reported that the U.S. government directed or funded the work.

The Globe and Mail investigation (Oct. 3, 2026)
The Globe and Mail reported on Oct. 3, 2026 that Republican political operatives from Michigan travelled to Calgary in January to show Alberta separatists voter-targeting software called 10X Votes, designed to identify and mobilize supporters.
The Globe reported that separatist organizer David Parker brokered the meeting and offered the software; it was later used by Parker's Centurion Project.
The Globe also reported that Alberta separatist leaders met U.S. State Department officials in Washington three times last year, and that a co-founder of the Alberta Prosperity Project said the group floated a document offering the U.S. access to Alberta's fresh water, oil royalties, a Pacific pipeline and land for a railway to Alaska.
Trump's ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, chaired the Michigan Republican Party before the posting, and a separatist organizer has claimed people tied to Hoekstra advised his group.
The reporting landed about two weeks before Alberta's Oct. 19, 2026 referendum on whether to stay in Canada or launch a second, binding vote on leaving.

The Centurion Project voter-list breach (Apr.-May 2026)
On April 30, 2026, Elections Alberta obtained a court injunction ordering the Centurion Project to take down an online database of names and addresses of nearly three million Albertans.
Elections Alberta told the court the data matched the list of electors legally given to the Republican Party of Alberta, a pro-independence provincial party, and said the party's copy was given to the Centurion Project.
Court heard the Centurion Project had turned the dataset into a searchable app; how the list changed hands remained unclear and became the focus of Elections Alberta and RCMP investigations.
Centurion Project leader David Parker said there was nothing illegal about the use of the list; Elections Alberta and the RCMP are investigating, and the Centurion Project and the Republican Party of Alberta said they would comply.
Alberta law restricts distribution of the list of electors to elected officials, political parties and party officials.

Reaction
NDP MP Heather McPherson said the federal government is not taking the reports seriously enough and asked what it is doing to prevent foreign interference in the referendum; her video clip is the post that circulated on social media.
Conservative MP Dane Lloyd called the reports concerning and said no one has the right to promise away Alberta's resources, but declined to say whether it amounted to foreign interference. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree deferred questions to CSIS.
Premier Danielle Smith's office said she is not affiliated with the separatists behind the claims; Smith has said she will vote against separation.

Do the separatists want to join the U.S.? (mixed record)
Jeffrey Rath, general counsel of the Alberta Prosperity Project, told Rebel News he is "100 per cent in favour of Alberta statehood"; in March 2025 he told Fox & Friends that Albertans were exploring independence or joining the U.S.
DeSmog reports Rath wrote a Substack post titled "ALBERTA NEEDS TO PETITION FOR AMERICAN STATEHOOD" and said in another post that Alberta needs to be independent before it joins the U.S.; the Alberta Prosperity Project's website says the notion that it seeks to become the 51st state is unfounded.
A billboard urging "Let's join the USA!" was paid for by the America Fund, founded by members of the 2019-2020 Wexit separatist movement.
Alberta Prosperity Project co-founder Dennis Modry said the group did not advocate in Washington for Alberta to become the 51st state; Rath has said statehood was not considered viable in the talks.
DeSmog reported that the America Fund, a title sponsor of a June 2025 separatism event in Red Deer, believes in a future where Alberta joins the U.S. as the 51st state, and that Republican Party of Alberta leader Cameron Davies, who appeared there, echoed Modry's account of the Washington meetings.

What is 10X Votes?
10xVotes describes itself as a relational organizing platform for conservatives, built around the pitch "Find 10 friends who don't vote and we win." It says almost 2 million registered Michigan conservatives vote less than half the time, and that it has identified less-dependable voters statewide.
The 10xVotes site lists the product as belonging to a company called Voteatron and says it was hiring community organizers in Michigan for 2026.
The Globe reports the software mines voter lists to find communities of like-minded people who could be mobilized to swing elections, and that its Michigan-based founders are Drew Born and Drew Wierda, from families the Globe calls well-known in Republican politics.
The Globe reports Born has openly called for U.S. annexation of Alberta.
At the Calgary meeting, 10X Votes representatives pitched the software to Alberta Prosperity Project leaders including CEO Mitch Sylvestre. Sylvestre told the Globe he was uncomfortable, balked at using the group's membership list for it, and has since stopped speaking with Parker.
Parker has been open about using 10X in the Centurion Project: volunteers "claimed" individuals they knew from the voter dataset and became responsible for getting them to vote for independence. The dataset was allegedly built from the breached Alberta electors list.
PressProgress reported that Ambassador Hoekstra personally knew the stepfather of 10xVotes' founder, according to a Rebel News fact-check that disputes the significance of this. Hoekstra says he has "zero involvement with 10X Votes in Canada"; no source I found shows he directed or funded the Alberta effort.

Perspectives

Defender — Jeff Rath (separatist organizer who arranged the Washington meetings)
Rath told the Globe the water and oil-royalty proposals were not discussed, and that the meetings dealt generally with Alberta's aspirations for independence.

Official position — Pete Hoekstra, U.S. ambassador to Canada
Asked about the Michigan operatives, Hoekstra told the Globe he had "zero involvement with 10X Votes in Canada."

Research notes
Open leads: (1) how the voter list moved from the Republican Party of Alberta to the Centurion Project is still unresolved (Elections Alberta and RCMP investigations); (2) the classified federal assessment of the breach cited by the Globe; (3) 10X Votes' Michigan backers and any funding links; (4) Alberta's Oct. 19, 2026 referendum outcome and any federal foreign-interference response; (5) the Globe's primary article is paywalled, so claims here rest on wire/CBC/CTV/Global coverage and court-reported facts. Note: the Republican Party of Alberta is a separatist provincial party, not the U.S. Republican Party.

Note
Separatist organizer Jeff Rath says the water and oil-royalty offers were not discussed with State Department officials, the White House says no support or commitments were offered, and Ambassador Pete Hoekstra says he had "zero involvement with 10X Votes in Canada."

Sources
[1] The Globe and Mail (investigation, via CTV/CP coverage) (https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/tory-mp-says-report-of-republicans-working-with-alberta-separatists-is-concerning/) · 2026-10-05
[2] Global News (https://globalnews.ca/news/11823997/alberta-elector-list-breach/) · 2026-04-30
[3] CBC News / Radio-Canada (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-premier-calls-for-accountability-as-separatist-group-faces-voter-list-investigations-9.7184419) · 2026-05-01
[4] Raw Story (via DNYUZ) (https://dnyuz.com/2026/10/05/gop-operatives-behind-trumps-michigan-win-secretly-working-to-break-up-canada-report/) · 2026-10-05
[5] CTV News (Alberta Primetime interview with Heather McPherson) (https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/alberta-separatists-engaging-in-traitorous-behavior-federal-ndp-mp/) · 2026-10
[6] Culture Alberta (summary of Globe investigation) (https://www.culturealberta.com/articles/alberta-separatists-offered-us-access-to-water-and-oil-royalties-for-independence-help-globe-reports) · 2026-10
[7] DeSmog: Meet the Calgary Lawyer Pitching Alberta to the U.S. as the 51st State (https://www.desmog.com/2025/05/20/meet-the-calgary-lawyer-pitching-alberta-to-the-u-s-as-the-51st-state/) · 2025-05-20
[8] DeSmog: Alberta Separatism Has Always Been About Joining Trump's America (https://www.desmog.com/2026/02/19/alberta-separatism-has-always-been-about-joining-trumps-america/) · 2026-02-19
[9] Newsweek (https://newsweek.com/alberta-separatists-face-scrutiny-over-dealings-with-us-officials-12529748) · 2026-10
[10] Global News: Alberta separatist behind 'Let's join the USA!' billboard (https://globalnews.ca/news/11029665/alberta-separatist-usa-billboard)
[11] DeSmog: Trump Officials Discussed $500M Alberta Independence Loan (https://www.desmog.com/2025/07/22/trump-officials-discussed-500m-alberta-independence-loan-separatist-claims/) · 2025-07-22
[12] 10xVotes (company website) (https://www.10xvotes.com/)
[13] Western Standard (https://www.westernstandard.news/alberta/republican-workers-on-the-ground-in-alberta-says-the-globe/77565) · 2026-10
[14] Rebel News: Fact check on Hoekstra and the Alberta sovereignty movement (https://www.rebelnews.com/fact_check_us_ambassador_pete_hoekstra_has_no_ties_to_alberta_s_sovereignty_movement)
[15] The Globe and Mail: How some Alberta separatists are courting U.S. support for independence (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-alberta-separatism-canada-united-states-republican/) · 2026-10-03

Connections

Same context — Canada and Mexico: '51st state' rhetoric and the trade war
Both concern U.S. pressure on Canadian sovereignty; the Globe frames the Alberta contacts as part of efforts by U.S. figures to support Alberta independence and American expansionism.