Trump administration officials have reportedly held several secret meetings with far-right Canadian separatists who want to break free from the rest of the country.

U.S. officials met with leaders of the Alberta Prosperity Project, a fringe right-wing group of separatists who want the oil-rich western province to become independent, three times in Washington since last April, sources told the Financial Times.

A reported meeting between individuals in the Alberta separatist movement and White House officials amounts to “treason,” British Columbia Premier David Eby said Thursday in Ottawa.

Eby told reporters before the first ministers’ meeting on Thursday that it’s completely inappropriate for a group to ask a foreign power for help in breaking up Canada.

“Now, I understand the desire to hold a referendum, to talk about the issues we want to talk about in Canada,” Eby said.

“But to go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there’s an old-fashioned word for that. And that word is treason.”

News of the stealthy meetings comes at a time of especially high tensions between the U.S. and its northern neighbour. 

During a speech in Davos at the World Economic Forum, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke of a “rupture” in the world order, in what appeared to be a veiled attack on the trade and foreign policies of President Donald Trump– but without mentioning him by name.

Current tensions have only helped the separatists, who are trying to capitalize on the friction.

“The U.S. is extremely enthusiastic about a free and independent Alberta,” the group’s legal counsel, Jeff Rath, told the FT after attending the meetings.

“We’re meeting very, very senior people leaving our meetings to go directly to the Oval Office,” he claimed.

“Administration officials meet with a number of civil society groups. No such support, or any other commitments, was conveyed,” a White House spokesperson said.