🇨🇦🇨🇦🗳 Alberta votes on leaving Canada; separatist movement likely to outlast expected defeat

Alberta holds a nonbinding referendum on Monday on whether the western province should secede from Canada, a debate many believe will ​not be settled by what is widely expected to be a defeat for the separatist cause.

Polls have consistently shown that a majority of ‌Alberta voters oppose splitting from Canada. Economic grievances have fueled the independence campaign in the province, which is home to 5 million people and slightly smaller than Texas despite having one-sixth the population.

The Alberta separatist movement adds to the pressures on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has made defending Canada's sovereignty a central mission as he confronts US tariffs and ​President Donald Trump's repeated calls for Canada to become the 51st state.

Many Alberta separatists believe the Liberal Party-led federal government in Ottawa has constrained the Conservative-governed province's oil industry ​through environmental policies, and that Alberta, the country's energy heartland, contributes more to Canada's economy than it receives in return.

An Angus Reid poll released Friday showed 66% of Albertans plan to vote to remain in Canada, but three in five believe "there will never be an end to the separatist movement" in the province.

"This issue is not going away now. ​Because the separatists are mobilized. They've networked. They're connected," said Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt in Calgary.

While separatist sentiment has existed in the province for ​decades, Premier Danielle Smith is the first Alberta leader to put the question to voters. Smith, who has urged Albertans to remain in Canada, called the referendum after months of pressure from ‌a small ⁠but vocal flank of her governing United Conservative Party.

If a majority votes in favor, Smith has said she would seek a binding referendum on separation.

Among the one-third of Albertans who would vote in favor of a future binding referendum on separation, 60% told pollsters their motivation was to "send a message" to Canada's federal government. Only 37% of respondents to the Angus Reid poll said their ⁠motivation was ​an independent nation.

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/alberta-votes-leaving-canada-separatist-movement-likely-outlast-expected-defeat-2026-10-19/

🇺🇸❌🇪🇺 US threatens Europe over Starlink restrictions. Ambassador Andrew Puzder warns about ‘devastating’ retaliation if Brussels goes ahead with plans to limit spectrum access for non-EU companies

European companies face “devastating” retaliation from Washington if Brussels presses ahead with plans to restrict American rivals such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX from parts of the European market, the US ambassador to the EU has warned.

Andrew Puzder’s warning comes after the European Commission this year proposed reserving part of its spectrum band that allows smartphones to connect directly to satellites for European players. That would limit the frequencies for Chinese and US companies such as SpaceX, which operates the Starlink satellite network.

Asked whether European companies should fear retaliation, Puzder told the FT that they “should be wary that it could happen and it would be very devastating for those companies”, given the size of the American market.

The proposed changes to the bloc’s spectrum allocation have already raised fierce criticism from SpaceX, which has warned the move risks poorer connectivity in Ukraine where its Starlink service has been critical to civilian and military communications since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The proposed changes are part of a broader push to strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty.

European policymakers are seeking to reduce their dependence on American technology amid concerns about the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump and the risk of relying on foreign companies for critical infrastructure.

The European Commission has introduced a Cloud and AI Development Act that would impose sovereignty requirements on providers of sensitive cloud services, while seeking to help European technology companies to scale up and provide alternatives to US tech companies.

Puzder said he recognised Europe’s right to protect sensitive government information but warned against using legislation to favour domestic companies at the expense of American competitors.

“If the purpose is to make United States less competitive, I think that that’s not a legitimate goal of this kind of legislation,” Puzder said. “You don’t make European companies more competitive by making US companies less competitive.

“We have best-in-class products in this area. They’re reliable products, they’re trusted products. We don’t need some kind of synchronised mediocrity.”

The ambassador also questioned whether the EU’s enforcement of its Digital Markets Act, which seeks to curb the power of the world’s largest technology companies, was really aimed at improving competition or more at generating revenue for the European budget, given the multibillion-euro fines on American companies.

“You start to wonder, are we trying to deal with the competition in the digital marketplace or are we trying to generate revenue from American companies to benefit Europe?”

🔗 https://archive.ph/NcR12

🇳🇱 Dutch Minister: Young Locals Can Just Live With Their Parents, Migrants Get Houses First

Dutch Housing Minister Elanor Boekholt-O'Sullivan drew sharp criticism this week after defending priority access to scarce social housing for recognized refugees, arguing that many young Dutch first-time home seekers "can still live with their parents."

In an interview with De Telegraaf, the D66 minister was asked why status holders - asylum seekers granted residence permits - should receive preference for social rental homes while Dutch "starters" face long waiting lists and delayed independence. She responded that "we see that a lot of starters can still, or are allowed to, live with their parents."

Boekholt-O'Sullivan, an Irish-born former lieutenant general in the Dutch Air Force who took office earlier this year, claims that anyone who wants to live in the Netherlands should get a roof but does not address the major housing crisis brought on by mass immigration.

"For me, the fundamental principle is that anyone who is allowed to and wants to live in the Netherlands gets a roof over their head," she said. She noted that status holders typically leave asylum reception centers and argued that alternatives such as remaining in centers, homelessness, hotels or cruise ships were unacceptable, so priority allocation should continue until other solutions exist.

The remarks landed amid fresh data underscoring migration's outsized role in the Netherlands' housing crunch. A report released this week by the Economic Institute for Construction (EIB) found that migration accounted for about 60 percent of additional housing demand between 2015 and 2024. Migrants who arrived in that period occupied roughly 435,000 homes by 2024, out of nearly 700,000 homes added to the stock.

In addition, data shows that migrants occupy 44 percent of the 2.2 million social housing units in the country.

The 44 percent figure of social housing units occupied by first or second-generation immigrants has doubled from 22 percent in 2000, and is forecast to rise to 51 percent by 2030.

A total of 92 percent of Syrian first-generation immigrants reside in social housing. In addition, 90 percent of those born in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Eritrea reside in social housing.

Asylum-related migration contributes disproportionately to lasting demand because status holders remain permanently at high rates, unlike many labor or student migrants who leave within a decade.

🔗 https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dutch-minister-young-locals-can-just-live-their-parents-migrants-get-houses-first

🇮🇱🇫🇷⚡️ — Channel 14: If a right-wing government comes to power in France, do you see relations with Israel improving?

Netanyahu: I certainly do. Because they understand that they're under threat. It's the common enemy that creates common interests.

🏴‍☠️❌🇳🇬 — The ISWAP organization released footage of their attack against a Nigerian military camp in Mairari, Borno region of Nigeria, killing 20 Nigerian soldiers.

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 — An Islamic Republic of Iran Navy spokesman told Al-Jazeera that 2 projectiles, likely launched by U.S. forces, struck a 35mm cannon at the Konorak Naval Base last night. 2 Islamic Republic of Iran Navy personnel were injured by the strike.