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Bell: Bombshell report shows huge costs of Alberta separating from Canada

Leaving Canada would shrink Alberta's economy, add to debt, intro other uncertainties, government-commission study says

The report hits the streets and explodes.

It’s the look-see the Alberta government asked the University of Calgary to do.

Bell: Bombshell report shows huge costs of Alberta separating from Canada Back to video

The good, the bad and the ugly of Alberta leaving Canada and the number crunchers are not picking sides.

It is not for the faint of heart. The mathematics of an independent Alberta is eye-opening.

The deep thinkers roll out two scenarios.

One is Alberta’s smooth exit from Canada.

The other is a very difficult good-bye.

They look at what could happen in the short run and the long run if Alberta goes it alone.

In the smooth exit everything goes … well … smoothly with the rest of Canada and others.

In the short term, less than five years after separation, the GDP, the overall economy, would be about 2.2 per cent lower than it would have been otherwise.

Over the long term, in 20 years or so, the GDP would actually be 3.4 per cent higher than it would have otherwise been.

Wages? They knew you would ask.

In the short term, workers could see a dip in their earnings of more than $1,200 a year on average.

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