@nigelb.bsky.social:
This is a capture from an email sent out by Carpay’s JCCF this afternoon. I subscribe to see what he is up to. But still gobsmacked that they would chose referendum day to send this out
Looks like our Premier is committed to continuing to share the stage with separatists and their fellow travellers post referendum day.
Event organized by John Carpay and the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms
@liarspeaksthetruth.bsky.social:
It’s important to understand that Smith is following. She’s taking marching orders and doing as she’s being told/paid to do.
She is NOT a “leader” in any sense of the word.
She never has been; she’s only serves herself.
@prairiesam.bsky.social:
Rath’s comments today confirm as much. They thought they had instilled someone who believed in their separtist agenda – she played along to keep that job – but all she’s really interested in is wrangling more power from Ottawa. Since that requires a constitutional change, it ain’t happening.
@lukelebrun.ca:
Lots of talk about how Alberta’s separatist movement is driven by rural hillbillies and conspiratorial convoy types
Important to remember this stuff is also pushed by wealthy business types who hang out at Calgary’s Petroleum Club:
OMG! Watch the video. Smith grossly insults her rural tractor base. But, they’ll vote for and adore her even more. What a vulgar stupid quisling shit Smith is.
@billycharlebois.bsky.social:
Ya mean the US engineers at the US companies?
@abbie4science.bsky.social:
no doubt Putin has a hand in it, like Brexit
***
@anonfmresident:
The ditchbillies are very threatened by the fact that that people other than white trash are allowed to vote.
@canadiancynic.bsky.social:
I have no problem with Alberta seceding as long as they leave behind all treaty lands and national parks, and refund to Canada all of the money it has invested in Alberta since Confederation.
Then those ignorant rednecks can fuck right off.
@intheprairie.bsky.social:
“Whatever the separatists claim, they do not care about the rights of First Nations people nor the concerns of working Albertans. The instigators of this cockamamie vote are hungry for power, and they will happily give away the farm to the Americans to get it.”
Well said.
And thanks for the link.
@orlaghokelly.bsky.social:
Anyone else getting unusual amounts of spam texts/calls today? It’s almost like our data was leaked.
@plnear.bsky.social:
What a crock of shit…and the CBC knows it! All she had to fucking do was have a vote in the legislature as requested by Thomas Lukaszuk. It never had to go to a referendum unless the MLAs voted that it should.
Smith didn’t want Albertans to know how many separatists are in her government so refused.
@luciecatnip.bsky.social:
CBC is reporting that the final vote count of the separation referendum question is expected to be done between 1 am and 4 am.
They’re being hand-counted so good luck with that.
@lindsaytedds.bsky.social:
Alberta referendum night: a flood, then a trickle. The 1.36M advance and mail ballots have been counted since 5pm, so they land first. Then election-day ballots get counted by hand, Q10 first. Early numbers aren’t the result. Thank the tabulator ban for the wait.
@daraddishman.bsky.social:
All across my county the Seppies built giant signs about Jesus and Freedom. In a beautiful divine act yesterday, God opened the storehouses of wind and smashed them to flinders. Today is Christian sabbath, and hopefully the Seppies take the hint at church.
@caulfieldtim.bsky.social:
Dear #UCP,
The vote today in #Alberta?
What a massive, massive, massive waste of resources and taxpayers’ money.
What a hate-mongering debacle.
What a lie-infused polarizing clusterf*ck.
Shame. On. You. 😡
@chad.mstdn.ca.ap.brid.gy:
Updated with today’s latest Elections Alberta disclosure.
Follow the money: It’s overwhelmingly clear that the UCP is the separatist party.
@canadiandimension.bsky.social:
Alberta exists because Indigenous nations entered into binding agreements with the Crown. Whatever reactionary grievances and frustrations the separatists claim to represent, they cannot erase the constitutional and moral reality that these lands are governed by treaties that remain in force today.
@septimusbrown.com:
Dear Alberta,
Please tell Danielle Smith to piss off today.
@luciecatnip.bsky.social:
David Robinson, who calls himself “the forefather of Western Independence” is preparing the ground for what will be a massive defeat. He’s pretending that 25% would be a victory, incorrectly stating that it equals 1 in 4 Albertans. It would only be 1 in 4 voters. A crushing loss.
@carl-spackler58.bsky.social:
Who cares about Carney in this context, it isn’t his project. He’s just not letting himself be the punching bag over some whiney BS. Smith can’t even negotiate a pipeline without the feds stepping in, she sure isn’t going to negotiate constitutional change that will please every province.
@tangibullah.bsky.social:
Your comment about Smith is spot-on.
I care about Carney, because I think he’s feeding our federal government into the shredder.I think so too
@saeedwkhan.bsky.social:
Carney has ZERO elbows. ZERO.
The only constitutional change we need is Canada is getting rid of the Notwithstanding Clause.
If anyone thinks their situation is so bad that it is more important than that, they can exit the country by the nearest border.
@altnoaa.bsky.social:
If Alberta votes to separate, then the Flames and Oilers should be ejected from the NHL and Alberta can just have their own little two club league with no chance of ever seeing another Stanley Cup.Canadian men’s hockey is gang rape and rape culture. All of it needs to ejected from Canada, including the rape fest fucking NHL, and only allow women’s and kids’ teams (but once, boys get to rape age, they must be punted.)
@kristadb1.bsky.social:
anyway, can’t wait for this shitshow to be over so that the backstabbing can start
@michaelabuckley.bsky.social:
I can’t wait for this to be over so I can add “rejected by the good people of Alberta” to list of epithets I use with these racist, dishonest, ignorant losers.
@orlaghokelly.bsky.social:
Just one More Way, the UCP has wasted all of our time
All Edmonton schools are closed today to offer up, pulling stations to the sham of a referendum
“Mature, grown-up people would be able to accept and understand that sometimes, the national interest doesn’t align perfectly with that of the oil and gas industry — which, it somehow needs pointing out, is just one industry among many in the province.”
@jerrycant.bsky.social:
This is the stupidest day in Alberta history, a record that will be broken by every subsequent day in Alberta history.
@connieskp.bsky.social:
Smith’s main priority as premier was her flagship legislative project, the Alberta Sovereignty Act. It was intended to create a pathway for Alberta to selectively refuse compliance with federal laws. She never hid it.
@infotransfer.bsky.social:
How many premiers do YOU know who already had a Panama tax haven set up BEFORE taking office?
@jessehawken.bsky.social:
My prayer is that Danielle Smith is gone as the Premier of Alberta by Friday at the latest. She gambled and lost.
@safetyinnumbers.bsky.social:
CBC doubling down on refusing the correct Smith’s demonstrable lie. No gray area – it’s a provable lie, saying she was legally obligated by Citizen Initiate Act to hold this referendum.
Untrue. You can’t “both sides” a flat-out lie.
@orlaghokelly.bsky.social:
Let’s also recall that Corey Morgan, Jeff Rath and Mitch Sylvester never needed to be given a platform. Never mind an outsized one. And if they were given one, CBC should have been prepared to fact check them.
Last week, I finally had enough with the CBC refusing to fact check Smith’s lie that this referendum is the result of the Citizen Initiative Act.
The response was to claim oh but it’s the “spirit of the law!”and my follow up.
@lackingceremony.bsky.social:
It’s incredibly stupid that we’re wasting millions on this pointless white nationalist chest-beating referendum, but it’s important that their defeat is so total and humiliating that they don’t try this shit again.
@armineyalnizyan.bsky.social:
gentle reminder about Alberta referendums: they never deliver change; they never go away.
@cougsta.bsky.social:
I know the referendumb is stupid and the majority of Albertans don’t want it, but please vote. Take snacks, and maybe a lawn chair, and stay in line. Vote to send this idiot government a message
@bigbadwolf4life.bsky.social:
Get out there and vote Alberta to send those American influenced separatists packing.
@sashafury.myatproto.social:
Here it comes. Happy Danielle Smith Humiliation Day for those who celebrate.
I am eagerly looking forward to the fall of Danielle Smith after this bullshit pre-referendum referendum.
Nothing unites Canadians right now like an utter dislike of Smith for foisting this on everyone. Even the separatists hate her.
She’s going to fall so fucking hard. And I will happily kick that Nazi bitch when she’s down.
@emmettmacfarlane.com:
Ooohhhh, go go go.
Polling Canada @canadianpolling.bsky.social:
Alberta Provincial Polling:
NDP: 50% (+6)
UCP: 46% (-7)
Others: 4%
Pollara / Oct 15, 2026 / n=1347 / Online
(% Change With 2023 Election)
@solitudex.bsky.social:
As Albertans go out to vote, please keep in mind that Dani is a traitorous BIT@H!!!
@hab3261.bsky.social:
If you want to see how she looks behind bars.
Smith’ll never be punished or go to prison, that’s for coloured people, the poor and or meek, and or immigrants. She’s vulgar racist white trash and thus untouchable and racist white trash Mark Carney is on her traitorous side along with traitor racist white trash Steve Harper.
@arxivofourminds.bsky.social:
She fled to Mar-a-Lago to be with Trump, rather than stand in solidarity with other Premiers and the Prime Minister when Canada was under threat.
@harrychronicjr.bsky.social:
Ive been a full-time hater for like 12~ years. Words cannot describe how excited I am to see her get devoured by her own rabid dogs.
@canadianinalberta.bsky.social:
I hope everyone, who hasn’t already voted, votes today
Stay in Canada
No to the nine
I think we’re going to lose some of the nine, especially those scapegoating immigrants for Smith’s destruction of our healthcare
It would take a massive educational campaign for it to be otherwiseand, in my view and experience, the most hateful thing about rural Albertans, is their racism, misogyny and bigotry and wilful stupidity. horrid ignorant people that hang on to their hate even on sundays in church.
@tressiemcphd.bsky.social:
I actually just think libertarians are children
@travisfigures.bsky.social:
No to the Nine
Smith should resign
@justinling.ca:
Alberta goes to the polls today, to decide whether the province should separate from Canada. The fact that it’s even happening is nothing less than psychological warfare, waged by damn liars.
@mandysueinla.bsky.social:
That’s a goddamn shame. You know musk and trump’s people are fomenting this bullshit.
Putin is Trump people
Alberta separatists rage-morphed from the incredibly stupid law-violating selfish Fucker Truckers
@brenttoderian.bsky.social:
Awful people in Russia and the United States want to economically sabotage Canada. So they’re putting a lot of effort into tricking Albertans into voting to separate. It would economically DEVASTATE Alberta and Canada, and that’s just the start of the damage it would do. Much worse than Brexit
@jekllnnhide.bsky.social:
Alberta: Putin and Trump really want you to vote for separation.
it’s not what an overwhelming # of AB’ns want. Get out and vote. It’s important.
@oneautisticsenior.bsky.social:
It’s so sad Danielle’s government is dragging the province thru this. When thoughts should be fully focused on the victims and their families at this time. Canada has work to do in supporting our military and their families. Not to be having to take time away for the seppies what a selfish bunch.
@walkerp.bsky.social:
Albertans whining about “the east” was something I knew about before I even knew what politics was. It took the Russians to finally take advantage of their imagined pains.
@oddkins.bsky.social:
They all just swapped out their Freedom Convoy and Anti-Vax t-shirts for Alberta Separatism. Same people. Same conspiracy and disinformation fuelled grievance politics.
@anniegirl.bsky.social:
It’s unlikely that separatism wins today but fuck you to anyone who voted for it. I will never forgive any of you for the hell you’ve put us through. You deserve nothing but contempt.
Oh, you want to open the constitution to appease Alberta kooks? I have some ideas for changes too. And I am not a kook. www.thestar.com/politics/fed…
Mark Carney is an old rich racist white man fraud, who like Smith and Harper, hates Canada’s charter. And he’s a catholic which makes him fucking evil because he serves the worst monstrous humans in the world, including Trump. Carney lies more than Danielle Smith. His actions tell us he’s betraying Canada, serving American corporations and the rich.
Rewarding Smith and the traitorous separatists is right up his Nazi sleeve.
@dkfoster.bsky.social:
If Carney’s going down this road of constitutional change to appease the cranks in Alberta, I want cities out from under the thumb of the provinces on the table.
@wolfelake2002.bsky.social:
Don’t remember him campaigning on constitutional changes. Would also like to know what changes he’s planning for the Canada Health Act.
@dkfoster.bsky.social:
Campaign Mark Carney is completely different than PM Carney.
@wolfelake2002.bsky.social:
Yes Bait & Switch.
@hockeyinottawa.bsky.social:
Numbers 1, 2, and 3 is remove the NWC
@redmcgraw.bsky.social:
- Remove notwithstanding clause
- Make municipalities an equal level of govt with provinces and absolutely sovereign in areas of municipal responsibility
@nestruck.bsky.social:
I don’t view today’s Alberta referendum as legitimate. The appropriate process is to form a separatist party, get elected, then have a referendum.The seppies tried that, and failed, grossly
Imagine if this meta-referendum actually passed today… and the officially federalist party in power had to hold a real separation referendum? Chaos
This is Brexit-style nonsense, a too clever by half gamble from a leader who thinks this will end a split in her deeply divided party rather than crack it open. I have only disdain for this – and feel badly for Albertans, my fellow Canadians, that they have to go through this charade.
@rachelbulatovich.ca:
Jason Kenney has been making the rounds pleading for a united Canada. I for one do not welcome him into the resistance. The tent is too big if we’re bringing in the architect of this whole stupid project. It’s your monster, Frankenstein, so what are ya gonna do about it other than kvetch?
@maxp94.bsky.social:
Our media has fully thrown Canadian immigrants to the wolves
@solsten.bsky.social:
Yeah I finally just read all the ballot questions, seems like a major oversight to have so little coverage on questions that essentially create two classes of citizens. Not to mention the “have it both ways” healthcare funding questionwhat media? Herr Hideous Harper gave most of our media to the fucking most racist stupid cruel asshats on earth, American Repuglicans.
@juliaridesbikes.bsky.social:
Fuck the racist assholes that got us here.
Fuck Danielle Smith and her cronies for deliberately encouraging this nonsense.
And fuck every selfish asshole that has ever voted conservative.
10 fucking questions that all boiled down to “ayyy we’re bringing back the kkk, who’s in?” and it came from a fucking elected government
@mikecook82.bsky.social:
These are the maniacs the idiot traitor Daniel Smith took serious enough to spend millions of tax dollars and put our country on a path to collapse. I’m so done wasting time and energy coddling selfish fools by engaging in bad faith debates. They’re not serious people. They’re selfish assholes
@getradified.net:
These are the dumbest people on the planet.
@jj-mccullough.bsky.social:
For 50 years, the Canadian news media has been trying to make “Alberta separatism” a thing with sensationalistic reporting of a non-movement. And for 50 years, polls have shown this is an idea with sub-20% support. I suspect today we will learn little has changed in 50 years.
@simonplittle.ca:
Ahead of Alberta referendum results, my personal take:
Anything over 30% is a win for the separatists, emboldening them to fight harder.
Anything under 20% is a win for the federalists, and will probably settle the matter in the short term.
Between 20% and 30% is purgatory for the province.
@jockcartier.bsky.social:
Danielle Smith really puts the dumb in referendum
@rvbdrm.com:
Just found out my realtor, a white Ukrainian-Canadian man, married to an Indian-Canadian woman, with two kids, is an Alberta Separatist
Like I keep saying, … stupid … stupid … stupid …
@pguist.bsky.social:
Todays the we take back our Alberta flag.
I am fiercely Alberta and proudly Canadian.
Just as we had to fight hard to get our Canadian flag back from the Freedom Convoyers, today we will take our Alberta flag back from the separatists.
Vote NO to the nine
Vote YES to stay in 🇨🇦
@barrhavenist.bsky.social:
No pissant cowboy referendum can undo the treaties to which that part of Canada, and Canada itself, is subject
@lazarukb.eurosky.social:
My vote in the next AB general election goes to the party that holds the UCP accountable for wasting my tax money while claiming they have no more money for hospitals and schools, etc.
Tory, NDP, whatever.
I bet I’m not alone.
@kenmargil.bsky.social:
Just like I will never forgive the US for their betrayal, I will never forgive Alberta for putting Canada through this, especially now.
He is pitching a vision of economic independence for Alberta, but his own financial history is checkered, As Albertans ready for referendum on separation, Dennis Modry’s money troubles come into focus. He says they’re irrelevant to the cause. by Alex Boyd, Oct. 17, 2026, The Globe and Mail
Dennis Modry wanted his audience to understand that he had more than just a vision for how to pay for an independent Alberta.
Sitting in front of the podcast mic last year, the separatist leader made clear he had access to serious people in the Trump Administration, and with that access has come substantial discussions about real solutions.
“We talked about the reality of virtually eliminating trade barriers,” said Modry, who was among a group of separatists that visited Washington, D.C. last year, including for a meeting in what another member of the delegation claimed was a secure room at the U.S. State Department.
“This doesn’t get to be much higher in the echelons of power.”
Now in his late 70s, Modry, a former surgeon, has established himself as a pioneering voice in the separatist movement. He co-founded the Alberta Prosperity Society, which promotes a “free and prosperous nation” and crafted the petition that played a critical role in putting Alberta on a path to referendum.
An elder statesman of Alberta’s resurgent independence movement, Modry delivers speeches that have inspired younger leaders and positioned himself as a steady hand on Alberta’s quest for economic independence. But all the while, a long trail of court documents reveals a history of his own financial problems.
Troubled finances revealed in civil courts
Last year, a judge found he misappropriated nearly $1.3 million from two vulnerable and elderly relatives.
Modry told the court he invested the funds, according to his relatives’ wishes, in crypto and his ambitious luxury condo project. That money appears to be gone — the condo development collapsed and the crypto allegedly stolen by cyber criminals. Now a court is trying to recoup money Modry owes with garnishment orders on his accounts, as well on the Alberta Prosperity Society.
At one point during his mounting financial troubles, Modry abruptly stopped working, triggering a chain of events that left him owing more than $1 million to the provincial health department.
As Modry and the other movement leaders push for a sovereign Alberta, the economic viability of which is a matter of national debate and scrutiny, their personal financial track records have come into focus.
Another activist in the vanguard on the separatist cause made headlines this summer after allegations he drained millions of dollars from trusts held by two First Nations’ settlement trusts.
Who is the ‘real’ Dennis Modry?
Modry told the Star he has “never misappropriated a cent in my life.” He said questions about his financial struggles are an attempt to hobble the sovereignty movement he has spent years helping to build, that his past court cases are irrelevant, and a Star story focusing on them amounts to a hit piece. His confidence in the economic future of a sovereign Alberta is based on his analysis of the data and research by economists, accountants and other experts.
“The people who know me, know of my integrity, and I’ll leave it at that,” he said. “Albertans have already made up their minds how they will vote regardless of your character assassination.”
On Monday, Albertans will be asked to vote on whether to move forward with a binding vote on separation from Canada, a vision for their province that rests, in part, on the arguments made by the movement’s leadership. The leaders’ credentials could weigh into that decision.
“The financial questions that have emerged are deeply troubling,” said Lori Williams, a political scientist at Calgary’s Mount Royal University.
Modry’s checkered financial past raises questions about his integrity and judgment, Williams added. “If we’re talking about the kind of leadership that might lead an independent Alberta, seeing this kind of unethical conduct … could understandably lead voters to wonder what kind of leadership an independent Alberta would have to offer.”
The court records reviewed by the Star show there have long been questions about Modry’s finances.
In 2005, a judge presiding over the settling of Modry’s divorce from his wife of 30 years, had to work for answers when determining the former surgeon’s level of spousal support:
“Somewhere between the bankrupt Dennis Modry, and the $7.3 million net worth Dennis Modry is the real Dennis Modry.”
A celebrated surgeon’s political awakening
While Modry went to Stanford University in the early 1980s to learn how to transplant hearts and lungs, then-Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau had just introduced the National Energy Program, to boost Canadian ownership of the oil industry.
The controversial initiative was eventually cancelled and largely forgotten, but not in Alberta, where it radicalized a generation of Albertans who felt Ottawa was crippling the industrial engine of the province.
When he returned to Canada, Modry started voicing his discontent with government policy and what he saw as bloat in the health care system. And he had a platform.
He had achieved a near celebrity status in Edmonton, where in 1985 he performed the first heart transplant in western Canada.
The society pages followed him about town, to a Guys-and-Dolls-themed party that raised money for the local theatre and a charity event in 1998 where he wore a suit made by the same designer who fashioned Wayne Gretzky’s wedding tux.
In 1994, according to the Financial Post, he made a submission to the Tax Reform Commission of Alberta, arguing that the province could be a tax haven if only it would cut corporate taxes entirely: “We are over-governed, over-regulated and overtaxed.”
A succession of Progressive Conservative governments in the 1990s asked him to participate in finance committees, he told the Star.
“It was satisfying to also have input to government when they posed questions to me, and I would give them my response,” he said, “and what they did with it was up to them. … The point is that I have an analytical mind.”
At the height of his career, Modry made more than $1 million a year performing high-risk surgeries for patients that often travelled long distances to his operating room.
But in 1999, when he separated from his first wife, his financial footing seemed uncertain.
Modry was ordered to pay his ex-wife Patricia Dale Modry $7,500 per month for the first five years. She then applied to increase and extend it. Modry countered that she should be capable of earning at least $20,000 per year and could sell the valuable lake cottage she’d gotten in the divorce.
The judge, who ultimately extended and increased the support Modry was required to pay, described the doctor’s financial position as having “the ability to transmute itself depending on the circumstances.”
According to the judgment, Modry certified for his bank that his net worth was $7.5 million. But an accountant hired by his ex-wife during the divorce proceedings put it at $3.6 million. His own accountant declared him bankrupt. Modry told the star he was never bankrupt.
‘I was defrauded of several million’
In late summer of 2013, Modry cancelled two surgeries and abruptly left town. Modry said his departure concerned a business matter, telling the Star, “I was defrauded of several million … I wasn’t in a frame of mind to proceed.”
When he returned, Modry was informed by the health authority that he was under assessment.
Officials with Alberta Health Services asked him to voluntarily withdraw from his surgical practice and, if he did so, offered to pay him $20,000 per week until a final decision was made. Modry accepted the deal.
The conduct review turned up other issues, and a report completed in the fall of 2013 outlined concerns about Modry scheduling elective surgeries while on call, “unprofessional and inappropriate” behaviour with respect to a specific patient and unspecified “personal issues.” The report also raised concerns about the mortality rates of his surgeries.
Modry told the Star that he would see fragile patients that other surgeons would not. He said these patients required longer recoveries in hospital, driving up costs. He alleged that much of AHS’s frustrations with him were economic.
“The people who know me, know of my integrity
“Let me put it this way: not all hockey players are equal. Not all football players are equal. Not all lawyers are equal,” he said. “But the public seems to think that all physicians or all surgeons are equal. That isn’t the case either,” he said. “If you have a comfort level of doing high-risk cases, which I did, and others objected to that, particularly at the administrative level, then, how do you deal with that?”
The review was put on hold when Modry underwent another review that all surgeons undergo when they turn 65. This other assessment flagged concerns about his “performance, team work, and history on files.”
The health authority proposed a return-to-work plan that would have, among other things, limited the amount and types of surgeries he could do.
Modry said the plan was “entirely unfair” and that keeping him out of the operating room was detrimental for his reputation and skills as a surgeon. He won an injunction to stop the agency’s plan.
But an appeals court sided with AHS, which told the court that Modry’s surgical outcomes and judgment were a matter of public interest.
The court decided that any potential harm to AHS and the public, “specifically in respect of the current breakdown in trust and confidence” outweighed any damage that might be done to Modry.
The 2015 decision meant Modry had to repay AHS $1.64 million. Modry sought leave to appeal at the Supreme Court of Canada but told the Star the case never made it there because he reached a settlement with the AHS that netted him a “lot of money.” The AHS refused to comment on Modry’s characterizations of a settlement. Modry then retired from medicine.
The glittering penthouse project
After putting the scalpel down, Modry wasted little time reinventing himself. A year after the appeals court decision, he threw himself into Privada Project, a $144-million real estate development in which he planned to knock down his own $6.6-million house overlooking the North Saskatchewan River and build 45 luxury condos.
The four-storey units would feature private elevators, virtual golf ranges and stone imported from Italian quarries, according to news reports. Seventeen had reportedly been pre-sold and construction was expected to begin the following spring.
“I’m a property developer now,” he told a reporter at the time.
The penthouses were expected to sell for between $2.5 and $5 million. At the time, the average detached home in Edmonton sold for just shy of $400,000.
The design phase cost “millions,” according to Modry, and he’d personally borrowed $7 million to put toward the project.
By the time he was promoting the glittering project, he had also been helping his vulnerable aunt and uncle who lived on Vancouver Island.
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But his handling of their finances would land him in court again, and a judge would find a disturbing connection between his relatives’ money and the Privada project.
In the fall of 2014, Modry had been given power of attorney by his uncle Fred Bodnar and his wife, Laurette Bodnar. That gave him control over their bank accounts.
The Bodnars had cascading health problems. Laurette had been hospitalized for a broken hip. Fred was admitted, too, because he depended on his wife for daily care. By the time he was discharged three months later, he was diagnosed with “moderate cognitive impairment.”
In January of 2015, Fred Bodnar allegedly assaulted a home support worker with a kitchen knife. When the worker sued, Modry claimed that Fred was “suffering from dementia,” according to court records, and that “he was incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of his acts.”
Were the ‘Penthouses in the Park’ a mirage?
Four months after the assault, Modry and Fred travelled to Edmonton and, according to court documents, Modry said that he showed Fred the details of the Privada project and his uncle expressed a desire to invest and even design a unit for himself.
Modry told the court that, with Fred’s permission, he sank a significant portion of his aunt and uncle’s money into the condo project. He told the Star that his uncle, who had the highest quality care possible, was enthusiastic about helping to finance the project.
But the project was faltering. The plans had ruffled the feathers of well-heeled neighbours concerned about increased traffic in the neighbourhood and possible slope instability that could send buildings toppling down the river bank.
In 2019, Servus Credit Union sued Modry, claiming he had gone past his $2.2-million overdraft limit and wasn’t paying it back.
Listed as collateral for the loan were three parcels of land where he’d planned to build his condo development.
The bank wanted the debt repaid, or the land.
Privada never broke ground.
Modry told the Star that the project was “ultimately derailed” by a “wealthy Edmonton individual” who interfered with project financing and took control of the property. “I lost $24 million.”
Modry tells court he lost his home and savings
In 2021, the Bodnars’ niece Verna Holmes sued Modry, saying he enriched himself at the expense of his uncle and his wife, both of whom had cognitive difficulties.
In his statement of defence, Modry claimed something different than what he had told another court five years earlier about his uncle. Modry now argued that “aside from occasional forgetfulness,” Fred Bodnar “continued to be of sound mind and mental capacity until the time of his death” but that the care required for the two seniors was significant. He said that Fred had okayed the investment of his and Laurette’s funds in the Privada project.
Modry also sold their house and a car, and wrote cheques to himself from the Bodnars’ accounts totalling more than $1 million.
While many withdrawals were made to pay for the Bodnars’ groceries and medical expenses, according to court records, others included more than $9,000 for bitcoin, a payment to a Napa Valley winery for 24 bottles of wine, and to cover six months’ rent for a condo in Scottsdale, Arizona. (The judge noted that Modry said that he needed to establish residence in the U.S. to gain access to funds his aunt and uncle had in America.)
Last year, the judge found Modry breached his fiduciary duties.
In an affidavit quoted in the judgment, Modry had explained that “I lost my home, my project, my equity and my financial retirement nest egg, along with the funds that I had invested in the project on Fred and Laurette’s behalf.”
The judge ordered Modry to pay it back.
Modry told the Star that relatives were “exceptionally well looked after,” and he’d done “exactly” what his uncle had asked him to do. The judge noted that while Modry said he invested the bulk of the nearly-$1.3 million in Privada, he failed to disclose supporting records and “deprived both the applicant and the court of any means of confirming this claim.”
Holmes, the relative who filed the suit against Modry, told the Star that the family was saddened for Fred and Laurette and that the evidence in the judgment spoke for itself. “He spent all of their hard-earned savings on his own personal financial interests,” Holmes said, “and even failed in that endeavour, apparently.”
Modry said he is unaware of the garnishment attempts, that the repayment is “between my lawyer and the other lawyers.” The Alberta Prosperity society declined to comment, and Modry’s lawyer in the Bodnar case, Jamil Sawani, said no court actions in relation to his client have any connection to the organization.
Modry added that, “You don’t need to look at a civil matter that I was dealing with in order to parse validity in terms of any statements that I make on behalf of the benefits to Albertans with respect to becoming a sovereign country … It’s completely irrelevant.”
He declined to say whether there have been more conversations with the Trump administration, or what his role is now with the organization he founded. But as the Alberta referendum approaches, he added, the work continues.
“I’m just focused on working behind the scenes,” he said. “Put it that way.”
He said Verna Holmes has been “paid out.” Holmes said that is not true and she is still waiting for Modry to pay the money back.
