Separation referendum would be ‘bad for the country’: Calgary Chamber of Commerce

Calgary Chamber CEO, Deborah Yedlin addresses members in Calgary, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

The head of a group representing Calgary’s business community says a referendum on separation would inflict grave damage on the economies of Alberta and Canada — regardless of the result.

“Businesses are not interested whatsoever in uncertainty,” said Deborah Yedlin, president and chief executive of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s bad for Alberta, but not just Alberta. It’s bad for the country.”

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The chamber joins a small but growing chorus of business and political leaders, who say the prospect of a referendum alone will lead companies to think twice before making investment decisions in Alberta.

The advocacy group represents a large number of companies based in Canada’s energy corporate capital, including several of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies.

Atco Ltd. CEO Nancy Southern says discussions around secession have led Asian partners to hold off on making a final investment decision on a hydrogen project until the separatism question is answered.

Southern said the discussion is “unhelpful and not constructive to Alberta.”

Yedlin said she suspects more executives will publicly address the issue as annual meetings continue through the spring.

“We need more Nancy Southerns to stand up and say something,” Yedlin said.

The arguments being made for separation are fundamentally flawed, Yedlin added, pointing to a number of businesses and residents who fled Quebec in the late 1970s ahead of that province’s 1980 referendum.

“When you have something like a referendum, Quebec is the poster child for what happened in Canada. We should not forget that lesson.”

The Alberta government is making it easier to put constitutional referendum questions on a ballot. Organizers would need about 177,000 signatures from registered voters, down from 600,000, which Premier Danielle Smith has said is prohibitively high.

Smith has said she doesn’t endorse separating from Canada, but separatists should not be demonized for their frustration with Ottawa.

She also has said the lack of an outlet for separatists to vent their frustrations could lead to the birth of a new party.

The premier has not said whether she’s concerned about the prospect of a referendum having a negative impact on Alberta’s economy, saying she can’t comment until a question reaches the ballot.

Yedlin said there are fundamental issues with the arguments being made by separatist groups.

“From a business standpoint, none of this makes sense.”

Alberta’s big-city mayors have likewise raised concerns that a referendum on separatism – regardless of its result – would have negative economic implications.

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said last week he has already heard from local businesses concerned that investment would flee if a referendum is held.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who is set to run in a byelection in the rural Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, said he doesn’t support separatism but understands Alberta’s frustration with Ottawa.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.

Matthew Scace, The Canadian Press