Alberta finance minister to meet with provincial, federal counterparts on proposed CPP exit

The latest in the saga on whether or not Alberta would leave the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) turns to a new chapter Friday.

Federal finance minister Chrystia Freeland is hosting a meeting with her provincial and territorial counterparts to discuss Alberta’s plan to leave the CPP.

Other provincial leaders are sharing concerns about what it would mean if Alberta pulled out of the CPP.

Freeland has said Alberta leaving the CPP would be a “historic, costly, and irreversible mistake.”

Political scientist Lori Williams says there will be plenty of hurdles for the provincial government to overcome.

WATCH: Province tables pension bill ahead of federal meeting

“Saskatchewan can’t afford support Alberta in this claim. So, it isolates Alberta from other provinces, from other Canadians,” she said. “It puts the Alberta government, and in particular, the finance minister of Alberta in a pretty difficult position.”

Williams explains that Minister of Finance Nate Horner will likely be on the defense.

“When it’s seen as unfair by everyone but some in the government of Alberta, that puts the government of Alberta in a pretty tenuous position,” she said.

Another expert, Duane Bratt, says the push the province is making could be yet another attack on the feds.

“Is there linkage involved in this? Smith has said no. But, Poilievre said that the reason Alberta wants out is because of Trudeau’s energy policies,” he explained. “So, we should get some clarification today.”

CityNews reporter Logan Stein talks with political scientist Duane Bratt on Alberta’s proposal to leave the CPP

Bratt says some other questions should be answered in the meeting.

“The point of this meeting is you’ve got the province’s other finance ministers, so this is a dispute not just between two orders of government, between Alberta and the rest of the country, and I think that’s important,” he said.

The premier has said she would not call a referendum on whether the province should quit the CPP until it has a finalized number on how much the province would get if it decided to leave the plan.

Williams says the rest of Canada has made it clear they don’t want to see Alberta back out.

Related stories:

• Premier Smith says Alberta’s CPP exit campaign to continue despite questions over key number
• More questions raised at second Alberta town hall on pensions
• Trudeau chides Smith for pension exit debate, promises to defend stability of CPP

“I think we’re seeing in Chrystia Freeland’s letter, in the finance minister from Ontario’s letter, the statements from a number of premiers now — they’re all repeating concerns about what this is going to mean for their constituents,” she said. “They are, after all, elected officials, and they’re hearing loud and clear from very concerned Canadians about the implications of this for financial security.”

The gathering of ministers is likely to produce some fireworks, according to Bratt and, if Alberta does eventually decide to leave, it will be hard to come back.

“Once you leave, you’ve left,” he said. “I mean, this is going to be very divisive, this is going to be a nasty fight over assets.

“Once you go down that path, re-entering is going to be so much more complicated and it’s going to lead to a lot of bad blood. This damaging to the country.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he would do “everything possible” to make sure Alberta does not leave the CPP.