As referendum day approaches, a report from the Alberta Transition Council was released last week outlining the process and implementation of Alberta becoming a country. Alberta Primetime’s Michael Higgins sat down with constitutional lawyer and advocate for independence Keith Wilson, who is also co-founder of the Alberta Transition Council, to discuss the report. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Michael Higgins: What kind of framework are you presenting with this report? What are you laying out here? Keith Wilson: The purpose of the report was to look at the details of what would be involved in transitioning Alberta from a province to a country if Albertans vote, in the upcoming referendums, to pursue the constitutional pathway that allows a province to do that. What we essentially found was that most of the services that are critical for business and daily lives are already provided by the province and the infrastructure is there. For those federal functions that need to be taken over, for example at the airports and the borders, the infrastructure is in place, the workers are in place. It’s a matter of agreements and transitioning them from federal payroll to provincial payroll. In other words, we’re not starting from scratch. MH: You make that sound like it’s fairly straightforward. What would make it so? KW: It’s because we’re a modern society. Alberta has accomplished a lot. We have competent public administration, and the context of the negotiation is one where the Supreme Court of Canada was clear that when a vote occurs and a clear majority of the voters of a province choose to pursue independence, then what happens is the federal government and the other provinces and the First Nations are under a positive legal duty to enter into good faith negotiations. So that’s why we assume the negotiations would be good faith, because that’s what the law requires. Again, all the functions that the federal government provides today are known with precision. We know exactly how many customs and borders agency officers staff the borders and staff the airports. So it’s something that is a similar negotiation dynamic, I believe, in terms of the level of information available, to when one company decides to acquire another company and merge it into one – it’s the same idea. MH: In the report, who are you drawing on to substantiate what you’re presenting here? KW: There were over 40 experts with various qualifications in everything from banking, monetary policy, international trade, military policing, law … I could keep going. Subject matter experts on agriculture, healthcare, and so on that all provided input. There were 16 working papers, they averaged a length of 60 or more pages. We consolidated them down into this one document. It’s been out for several days now, and no one’s come forward to say that anything we got in there was wrong. MH: You’re not publicly identifying who did the writing. KW: That’s correct. Well, it’s who did the research for the white papers. I did most of the writing for the consolidated plan. We live in incredibly polarized times, and anybody who comes forward on one side or the other is prone to attack, to cancel culture, to reputational risk and career risk. So, I told those experts that are concerned about the future of Alberta, and wanted to contribute to this project, that I would keep their names anonymous, and I wish we didn’t have to do that. I take the view that the document will speak for itself. Even Gary Marr and others have noted the level of depth to the document, and again, we’re in unfortunate times where things are very polarized, very emotional, and that was the step that I took to ensure we could get top-quality people involved. MH: It’s often said people are the greatest resource. What is your estimate on how many Albertans would pack up and leave were there to ultimately be that vote for independence, and how do you weigh the impact of that element? KW: I think those who are suggesting that people are going to leave need to reflect on the facts, which are that Alberta continues to be a major draw for people. We have the only significant growing economy in Canada. We have no sales tax. We have the lowest taxes in Canada. Relative to Toronto and Vancouver markets, we have a far lower cost of real estate. So if you’re looking to buy a home, and you’re a young family, you’re going to be able to buy a much nicer home in Alberta than you are in Vancouver or Toronto. We have so many things, fundamentally, to advantage us. And part of the vision of independence is that Alberta would not, off the top, have to spend $20 to $30 billion a year, like we do now through equalization to Ottawa that we don’t get back. So my concern isn’t people leaving. There are too many positive things about Alberta for people to want to leave. My greater fear is managing the inflow of people from other parts of the country that are going to want to come to Alberta to take advantage of the opportunities that we offer. MH: What’s next for your council? At what point do you start floating dollar figures? KW: I just received a further revised draft this morning. That’s our next phase: to put the costing on. Remember, a lot of these are the transition costs that are one-time costs, and then we’re also going further with the help of economists and looking at what a budget for an Alberta government would look like in the future, once we’re to the other side and fully independent. So far, those numbers are looking quite positive. It’s interesting, the other reports that have come out suggesting that Alberta would be in such a bad position in the negotiation are not taking note of the fact that over the course of the equalization program, Albertans have sent over $300 billion to Ottawa that we’ve never gotten back. That starts as a credit, and the other provinces are heavily dependent upon us for trade, even if you take out energy. And during those negotiations for independence, we’re going to want to maintain that trade relationship. They’re going to need us as a market, especially now given the vulnerabilities with what’s happening with the trade situation with the United States.
