Alberta secession talk 'unhelpful,' ATCO chief executive says

The chief executive of ATCO Ltd. says discussions around Alberta secession are already hurting the investment climate.

Nancy Southern says Asian partners in a major hydrogen project have said they won't make final investment decisions unless there is certainty around the Alberta separatism question.

She says the prospect of Alberta independence is raising too many questions for companies to feel confident making big investment decisions.

Those include how it would get its products to coastal ports, what kind of trade deals it would have with its neighbours, what currency it would use and how stable the economy would be.

Talk of Alberta going it alone or joining the United States has ratcheted up since the federal Liberals won a fourth term in office last month. In the province, where all but a few seats went Conservative blue, there is widespread discontent with federal environmental policies affecting the key oilpatch industry.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has introduced a bill that, if passed, would make it far easier for Albertans to launch referendums on various topics — including splitting from Canada. Smith has said she wants to see the province stay within Canada but she's willing to put the question to Albertans as soon as next year if petitioners gather the requisite 177,000 signatures to trigger a referendum.

In reaction to Southern's comments about the talk of secession being harmful, Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist with Alberta Central, told CBC News "it's not surprising. We know businesses don't like political uncertainty."

He said the same has been observed in every case where there's a question of independence or a chance of a referendum, for example in Quebec and Brexit in the UK.

"That uncertainty becomes a headwind for investment."

Southern said she understands Albertans' frustration with the federal government over environmental regulations affecting the energy sector, but that she believes Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to change things.

"I think the separatist discussion is very unhelpful and not constructive to Alberta," Southern said in an interview following her company's annual shareholder meeting.

St-Arnaud said he anticipates more people may follow Southern's lead, speaking out about the negative consequences of secession talk in the province.

"For most businesses, especially those who have to attract capital from outside Alberta or even companies that are kind of on the fence of whether or not they should be investing in Alberta or in Ontario or B.C., it can be a deciding factor in terms of whether or not investment happens in the province," he said.