Alberta to study cost of separation with $1.5M research push
University of Calgary tapped to analyze provincial breakaway scenario; economist Jack Mintz leads expert advisory panel reviewing findings.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
Alberta's government has commissioned the University of Calgary to study what leaving Canada would cost the province, allocating up to $1.5 million for the analysis and a separate expert review.
The move comes as the province signals it will put separation to a referendum, requiring Albertans to make the decision "based on clear and factual information," according to Finance Minister Jason Nixon's office.
The University of Calgary's School of Public Policy will calculate the costs of Alberta providing federal services it currently relies on — passports, aviation regulation, First Nations health and social benefits, the military, national parks management, the RCMP, and tax collection. The research will assume separation is legally possible and finish by the end of summer.
An expert advisory panel, led by economist Jack Mintz, will review the university's report and provide its own assessment. The panel includes former Saskatchewan NDP finance minister Janice MacKinnon, former Alberta PC finance minister Ted Morton (a signatory to Stephen Harper's 2001 Firewall Letter), Business Council of Alberta president Adam Legge, and Cenovus Energy board chair Alex Pourbaix.
University of Calgary director Martha Hall Findlay said the school will not examine the legal aspects of secession, only the financial transition costs. The panel may suggest ideas for researchers to include, but the report will remain independent of government.
Previous attempts to estimate separation costs have yielded different results with acknowledged limitations, Rodriguez said. This exercise is designed to give Albertans a unified, rigorous foundation for informed voting.