On the eve of an historic vote on Alberta’s future in Canada, one of the leaders of Alberta’s separatists is alleging the response to a deadly accident at a Canadian Forces Base east of Edmonton bears the hallmarks of a “cover up.”
Jeffrey Rath, a controversial lawyer and a bombastic architect of Alberta’s independence movement, also suggested “DEI programs” and “gender fluid” soldiers recruited by Justin Trudeau may be to blame for the tragic accident that has claimed the lives of several Canadian soldiers.
Rath, who has provided no evidence supporting his claims, did not respond to multiple requests from The Watchdog to clarify or expand on his remarks made in a series of tweets Sunday morning on the social media platform X.
In one statement, Rath wrote entirely in caps lock responding to an X user who was speculating how the deadly accident at CFB Wainwright happened.
“WHATEVER HAPPENED AT WAINWRIGHT IT LOOKS LIKE A COVER UP HAS STARTED,” the Alberta separatist leader replied.
In another tweet sent an hour earlier, Rath cautioned a far-right influencer to exercise restraint and not “prejudge these things.”
Nonetheless, despite the absence of evidence, Rath went on to speculate: “Who wants to lay odds that this was precipitated by the catastrophic decision of some unqualified DEI Program Officer promoted under a Trudeau era ‘gender and culturally sensitive intersectionality program’ not fit to wear the uniform?”
In a third tweet addressing the topic, Rath shared that he had once trained at CFB Wainwright when he was a “young sapper.” Referencing initial media reports about the deadly accident, Rath said he refused to accept the narrative he was hearing.
“We are not being told the real story,” Rath said in a tweet viewed 59,000 times. “The cover up has started.”
“The very fact that Carney was rushed to a microphone so quickly lets you know that something is up,” the Alberta separatist leader elaborated, before suggesting “gender fluid” CAF personnel may be to blame.
“I’ll take ‘gender fluid, culturally incompatible, incompetence’ for 2000 Alex.”
Earlier this month, Rath criticized female soldiers and described the CAF as a “woke army.”
Rath’s focus on “gender” and “DEI” has echoes of a sexist, anti-LGBTQ+ tweet last month from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth (who has branded himself the “Secretary of War”) after the Trump cabinet secretary publicly ridiculed young members of Canada’s cadet program.
Rath has previously identified himself as a key figure behind a series of unauthorized bilateral talks between a small group of Alberta separatist leaders and Trump State Department officials in Washington, DC.
At the time of Rath’s tweets, the Canadian Armed Forces had provided scant details about what happened at CFB Wainwright, though early media reports suggested an explosion may have been caused by an accident where munitions struck a gas well (the CAF denies any oil and gas infrastructure was struck).
On Sunday afternoon, the CAF said four soldiers had been killed and 39 hospitalized following an apparent accident caused by a grass fire inside their training range that spread rapidly following extreme winds.
“The fire was a kilometre away when the wind shifted,” Major-General Wade Rutland said at a press conference Sunday. “It is not normal for a fire to move a kilometre in 30 to 60 seconds.”
“I spoke to my commander on the ground last night and this morning, and he said within 30 seconds to a minute they saw no fire, and then there was a fire right on top of them.”
The cause of the initial grass fire so far remains unknown.
On Monday, October 19, Albertans will cast votes in a referendum on whether to remain in Canada or initiate the process of holding a legally-binding referendum on separating from Canada.
Polls have consistently shown little appetite for separatism throughout the referendum campaign, with final polls suggesting more than two-thirds of Albertans would vote to remain in Canada.
