The federalist "Lead Not Leave" campaign published an op-ed this week comparing Alberta separatists to abusive spouses — accusing the independence movement of gaslighting, emotional blackmail, and attempting to isolate Albertans from the rest of the country.

On Wednesday's Buffalo Roundtable, hosts Sheila Gunn Reid and Lise Merle, along with guests Chris Scott and John Tomkinson, shared their thoughts on the assessment.

"Abusers don't collect hundreds of thousands of signatures so that their victims can decide their own future," Sheila said. "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard. But somebody wrote that and gave it to an editor and the editor was like, 'Yeah, nailed it.'"

Panellist John Tomkinson, an Alberta independence advocate, identified the op-ed as a textbook example of what is known in domestic violence research as DARVO — deny, attack, reverse victim and offender.

"If you want to use this analogy, let's talk about coercive control," he said. "Let's talk about pipelines. Let's talk about borders. Let's talk about here's an agreement, all of which are smoke and mirrors. Let's talk about financial control. This is reversing the victim and the offender so they can plead on emotional strings without any of the facts."

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Lise called it a well-worn PR strategy — the kind deployed during messy corporate breakdowns or celebrity splits. "They're labelling us, denigrating us, they're triggering all of their crazy, vapid federalist friends to attack us," she said. "They're trying to get a hold of the narrative and it's important that we not let them."

Chris Scott was blunter. "That article is the ultimate projection," he said. "These are literally all of the things the federalist side are doing."

The panel also reacted to news that the Sundre Pro Rodeo cancelled its parade after backlash over a potential float covered in Alberta flags. The float wasn't even explicitly pro-independence — it was Alberta flags, celebrating the province. "That should be the least political thing you could do,"  Scott said.

In response, locals organized their own parade on June 20, independent of the rodeo association entirely.

Tomkinson framed both stories as symptoms of the same deeper problem. "This is about the change in Canada's ethos," he said. "The call for Alberta independence is a rallying cry to protect the culture we have built and worked for as a province from the spilling over of woke politics in Ottawa."

Sheila agreed, drawing a parallel to Quebec's independence movement. "For Albertans, it's economic but it is also cultural," she said. "What they're trying to do is preserve whatever's left of what Canada used to be. We feel it still lives here, and we want to keep that."

The Buffalo Roundtable, where weekly guests join Rebel News hosts to discuss the top issues facing Western Canada, airs live every Wednesday at 11 a.m. MT / 1 p.m. ET.