Hello, I’m Marie Woolf, standing in for Ian Bailey. Welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.

Researchers tracking how online influence campaigns are targeting Monday’s referendum in Alberta have noticed an increase in activity from the United States in the final weeks before the vote, Grant Robertson reports.

Online narratives pushing the idea that Alberta has no choice but to sever ties and join the U.S. have become the dominant message being pushed into Canada by American sources, according to the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Data, and Conflict at the University of Regina.

Since the project began in July, about 80 per cent of suspected foreign-influence activity targeting the Alberta referendum – roughly 40,000 items a month – has been linked to Russian bots and content farms, which churn out memes, social-media messages and videos aimed at promoting pro-separatist messages in Canada.

The remaining 20 per cent has been linked to U.S. sources, including influential podcasters, right-wing political pundits and social-media influencers.

Ottawa announces immigration rule changes that will give highly paid foreign workers an edge

Highly paid foreign nationals working in Canada – including doctors, engineers and programmers – will now have an advantage when applying for permanent residence, under changes to immigration rules announced by Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab on Friday morning.

Carney urges Albertans to vote against separating from Canada

Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a speech in Calgary on Thursday evening, urged people to vote for the province to remain in Canada and reject Premier Danielle Smith’s other nine ballot proposals.

Lawful-access bill puts Canadian business at disadvantage with U.S., EU - Chamber of Commerce

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is urging the Prime Minister to split in two his government’s lawful-access bill, warning that the current version of the legislation would put Canadian businesses at a competitive disadvantage with the U.S. and EU – and could even drive them to leave the country.

C-39 is Canada’s most consequential economic legislation in decades and would affect several important areas of policy

The country’s most significant economic bill in decades, explained.

Cyber-intelligence agency planning $1.85-billion data centre in Ottawa area

Communications Security Establishment is planning the construction of a 60-megawatt facility, placing it among the country’s larger data centres.

Prime Minister’s Day: The Prime Minister is in Red Deer, Alta., meeting with community leaders, and will speak at a Forever Canadian rally in Edmonton in the evening.

Party Leaders: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will address the Canada Strong and Free conference in Calgary. NDP Leader Avi Lewis is in Montreal campaigning to support his party’s candidates in federal by-elections.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is canvassing with Emily Lowan, Leader of the B.C. Greens and candidate for Saanich North and the Islands in the coming B.C. provincial election.

“At this pivotal moment, Albertans have a choice: to build a stronger Alberta and a greater Canada to leave for our children, or to burden them with years of deep division and great uncertainty,” - Mark Carney at downtown Calgary rally on Thursday evening.

Which diplomatic crisis – that could have led to war between the U.S. and Britain – was diffused with the help of Viscount Monck, later Canada’s first governor-general.

Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.

A century of U.S.-Canada friendship is at risk

Quebec’s political mainstream has shifted to the right

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The answer to today’s question:

The 1861 Trent Affair, during the American civil war. American captain Charles Wilkes ignited a potentially explosive diplomatic dispute when he stopped RMS Trent, an unarmed British ship in international waters, taking two Confederate envoys prisoner. Lord Monck helped resolve the crisis, which ended peacefully when the envoys were released.