Separation making Alberta master of its destiny ‘a fiction,’ business leader says

With fewer than 45 days to go until the Alberta referendum, few individual business leaders have spoken publicly on the prospect of separation from Canada.

But the leader of an Alberta business organization says that doesn’t mean they aren’t paying close attention.

“There is some hesitancy [to speak out],” Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta, told reporters Tuesday. 

It’s likely that many Alberta companies have employees and customers who would support separation, Legge said.

But he added the majority of the group’s members have spoken “loud and clear” that they want him to speak in favour of remaining in Canada.

The organization’s membership includes more than 130 executives and presidents for top corporations across Alberta’s major sectors.

“They do recognize that if the referendum were to be positive in support of separation, that would create a massive amount of uncertainty,” Legge said.

On Tuesday, the council launched a new website, along with a series of videos and graphics, intended to make the case for Alberta to remain in Canada.

A significant number of members, particularly in the resource sector, have long been frustrated with federal policy, Legge said.

While he said the status quo is not a path forward, sentiment has been changing in the wake of recent developments, like Alberta’s proposed oil pipeline to the West Coast.

And factors that will determine if separation were to be positive or negative, like trade agreements, market access, currency and interest rates, are mostly outside Alberta’s control, Legge said.

“The notion that a separate Alberta would be a master of its own destiny is a fiction,” he said.

Legge sat on the provincial “Alberta Next” panel last summer, which held a series of in-person town halls across the province with the stated goal of devising ways to increase provincial autonomy.

The Business Council of Alberta said it isn’t registering as a third-party advertiser for the upcoming referendum, but will continue to produce content to post on its website and social media channels.

The Business Council of Alberta isn’t the only major business organization to draw a line in the sand when it comes to separation.

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In June, a report released by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce suggested separation could spur a business exodus and shrink the provincial economy by $62 billion a year.

Last week, the Canada West Foundation, a public policy think tank, said though Alberta’s grievances with Ottawa may be real, separation would be too costly and pose too many uncertainties.

Independence groups have suggested such projections assume “worst-case outcomes” and ignore Alberta’s leverage. 

Last week, the pro-independence Alberta Transition Council, led by lawyer Keith Wilson, released a 214-page report laying out a “transition plan” should Alberta become its own country. 

Wilson has said the nature of Alberta’s economy is immobile, meaning the province would be in a solid negotiating position in the event of a “yes” vote.

“They cannot relocate our natural resources, our expansive agricultural production, our oil and gas,” Wilson said last week. “We’re in a much stronger position, not only to negotiate with the rest of Canada, but also with the United States.”

Even more analyses on the prospect of Alberta separation are anticipated, including a University of Calgary study, expected to be released this month.