The uncertainty that Alberta’s debate over separatism could create will hit Calgary first and hardest when it comes to declining employment and jobs, the city’s mayor said on Friday.<\/p>\n
After Premier Danielle Smith announced on Thursday that the province will add a new question<\/a> to this fall’s referendum asking voters whether they want to stay in Canada or hold a binding vote to separate, Mayor Jeromy Farkas said the uncertainty this referendum brings risks hindering the city’s economic growth and ability to compete for investment on a global scale.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving this unanswered question, these storm clouds on the horizon for our future, it’s completely unacceptable,” said Farkas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are the beating heart of enterprise in Alberta and one of the fastest growing cities in North America. But all of that is being threatened by instability.\u201d<\/p>\n Farkas said he’s concerned how debating separatism could create division by pitting communities against one another.<\/p>\n He said the city’s residents would be better served if the provincial government was more focused on issues like affordable housing or local infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a huge sideshow, a distraction,\u201d said Farkas.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing through\u00a0not just one vote but potentially multiple votes on separation, it telegraphs to the rest of the world, the rest of the country, that we’re not serious.”<\/p>\n Farkas said he\u2019ll participate in the debate around separatism to help voters understand the risks the province faces if it pursues leaving Canada.<\/p>\n While recent co-operation between the Alberta and federal governments has set the province up for economic growth, Calgary Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Deborah Yedlin said debating separatism creates more risk.<\/p>\n Yedlin argued debating whether to separate sidelines businesses and delays investment in the province. She added Alberta doesn’t need this uncertainty as it tries to export more of its oil and gas, especially after the federal and Alberta governments recently reached an agreement<\/a> that could result in an oil pipeline and more economic growth for the province.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t need to introduce an element of uncertainty,\u201d said Yedlin.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a variable we can control, and we\u2019ve chosen to do this regardless. I think that\u2019s what\u2019s troubling.\u201d<\/p>\n She added the prospect of separatism also creates uncertainty about the regulatory framework businesses would operate in, and potentially scares away needed labour from moving to Alberta.<\/p>\n Some Albertans whom CBC News spoke with in Calgary on Friday were unhappy with Smith’s decision.<\/p>\n