<p>The seeds of separation are being sown. Thousands have been braving January’s cold to put some heat on the effort for the province to become a free and independent country.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>This week on<em> West of Centre</em>, host Kathleen Petty speaks with one of the campaign’s key proponents and head of the Alberta Prosperity Project, Mitch Sylvestre. Among many points in their conversation, he tells her there’s no U.S. funding involved in the effort, and that his sense is things would have been much different if Pierre Poilievre had won last spring’s federal election.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Then, political pollster Janet Brown and Calgary-based Toronto Star reporter Alex Boyd join the table. They analyze the political calculation by Premier Danielle Smith in making it easier for a separation referendum to go to the people. And they break down the differing views on the separatist sentiment in Alberta — from those who are committed to the cause, to those who are more s...