BONNYVILLE — An Alberta man behind a petition pushing for provincial separation insists that a live bullet was brought to his business as a death threat, despite police believing it was a lookalike and there is no threat to safety.

“It’s all a lie, they know full well that the guy brought me a live bullet,” said Mitch Sylvestre, the CEO of a separatist group called the Alberta Prosperity Project, in an interview.

He’s also the proponent behind an ongoing citizen-led petition pushing to separate Alberta from Confederation.

“Nobody would ever bring me a $3 bullet-shaped pen and say this is for Mitch and not leave it there if it was actually for Mitch,” he said, adding he does not know the man.

In a news release Wednesday, RCMP said it received a report on Jan. 29 that a man had brought an item resembling a bullet into a business in Bonnyville, Alta., about 240 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

RCMP said investigators found that the item was a pen that resembled a bullet.

“Police believe there are no public safety concerns, nor a safety risk to the complainant or his staff, due to political beliefs or otherwise, for this specific police investigation from the Jan. 29 interaction,” the release said.

Referencing uncharacterized social media posts made on Monday, RCMP warned that public posts could compromise an ongoing investigation and pose “unnecessary safety risks” to those involved.

Speaking second-hand about the incident, having heard from his staff, Sylvestre said a man walked into his business with a bullet and said it was “for Mitch.” He said it terrified the staff.

He said the staff are experienced and believe the bullet brought to the store was not plastic.

“With a pen or a bullet — whatever that is, either way — it’s absolute lunacy that anybody with any common sense would think to do that,” Sylvestre said.

He said he doesn’t believe police are pursuing an indictment because it would be too much work.

Canvassers looking for people to sign his petition seeking a referendum on separation have also been intimidated, he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2026.

— by Dayne Patterson in Calgary

The Canadian Press