Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is barnstorming Alberta this weekend, desperate to keep the oil-rich province from launching a process toward independence — and sounding every bit the globalist alarmed that the resource class might slip the leash.

Monday's referendum is not a direct vote on independence. Albertans will decide whether to remain a province or instruct their government to begin the legal process toward a future separation referendum. But even that first step has Carney in full panic mode, warning it's a "dangerous bluff" at the "worst possible time."

The stakes are straightforward: Alberta holds the world's fourth-largest proven oil reserves, and Ottawa has spent decades treating those resources as a piggy bank for the rest of Canada. Sound familiar? It should. When distant capitals drain wealth from the people who produce it, eventually those people push back. It's the same friction American states face under federal overreach — same fight, different border.

Carney, who grew up in Alberta, is deploying personal nostalgia alongside dire warnings. "Growing up, I remember how Ottawa made Albertans feel like our resources weren't our own," he conceded at a pro-Canada rally in Edmonton, according to NBC News. He even acknowledged the province was made to feel its energy contributions were "against the tides of history."

So Ottawa squeezed Alberta for years, and now Carney is shocked — shocked — that separatism is simmering. The New York Post noted that Carney has broken with predecessor Justin Trudeau's policies, fast-tracking a proposed Pacific Link oil pipeline and calling Canada an "energy superpower." His office estimated roughly 5,000 people attended his Calgary rally. The loudest applause came when he talked about reducing Canada's economic dependence on the United States.

Carney also blamed outside forces. "Some outside our borders are working to break us so they can own us. Never," he said, per both outlets. The Post noted he did not directly name the U.S. or President Trump in that passage, though he has in similar speeches. Trump's trade war and his repeated suggestions that Canada become the 51st state have given Carney a convenient external villain.

The bipartisan establishment is closing ranks. Alberta's conservative Premier Danielle Smith, who opposes independence herself, appeared alongside Carney in Red Deer in a show of unity — striking for a Liberal prime minister in a province that has feuded with Ottawa for decades. "I think what we can agree on is that we have had some real change in the last 18 months," Smith said, praising Carney for improving relations.

But Smith called this referendum despite opposing separation, citing a poll showing only 22% of Albertans support it. Former Premier Jason Kenney told NBC the independence movement gained influence within the governing United Conservative Party as activists angry over COVID-19 restrictions — "some influenced by conspiracy theories" — embraced separatism.

Outside the Edmonton rally, independence supporters waved flags and held a sign reading "Say no to Carney's new world order." Some anti-separation Albertans are furious at Smith for calling the vote at all, with one telling NBC it was "a travesty" to put the province and country through this over a small faction.

Carney's closing pitch: "Don't be fooled by the idea you can 'send a message' with your vote. This is not poker." In other words — don't use the ballot box to register dissent against Ottawa. That's the establishment line everywhere: trust us, don't rock the boat, your grievances are noted and filed away.

The open question is whether Alberta buys it — and whether the same centralized arrogance fracturing Canada is already at work closer to home.