As the architect of the Brexit campaign, the charismatic (Nigel) Farage galvanized voters to narrowly support the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union in 2016, a decision a growing majority of Britons now regret.

But while Manning serves as an inspiration to Farage, he is an object of querulous derision by Jeffrey Rath, the abrasive leader of the Alberta Prosperity Project, or APP, Alberta’s black cowboy-hatted version of the Brexit campaign.

Without prompting during a Feb. 16 YouTube podcast, Rath disparaged Manning, Questerre Energy founder Michael Binnion and Calgary billionaire Ron Mannix, accusing them of trying to rein in the APP’s burgeoning independence.

Manning has responded by calling Rath’s comments “highly inaccurate,” and telling The Tyee that Rath’s appearances on CBC and other media create an impression that “western secession is mainly being pushed by an ill-informed group of cowboy yahoos.”