...and for Canada

That's why the shitheads are funding it

I wonder if they included the cost of armed forces, border and customs agencies, foreign embassies, aviation and environmental regulatory agencies, national pension systems, and federal service staffing in their calculations? Or are they assuming the two behemoths landlocking them would just... let them be...? Both Canada and the US could decimate Alberta economically and I can see the current US administrarion doing it purposefully with the intention of annexing them.

Sometimes I wonder if separatists really just want Alberta to be a part of the US since we all know that's how this would play out in the end.

You would think that after the fiasco of Brexit Albertans would know better. Albertans would still be subject to their own governments damaging economic policies even if they could divorce from the federal ones. Most of their economic problems are self inflicted. That will only get worse. It is clear that their Premier and cabinet and advisors are already on the payroll of American billionaires. How any Albertan thinks that will make life or income better for them is astonishing. They harken back to some good ol days that never existed, while falling for Koch brothers (or whomever) marketing their takeover. They wouldn't become the next Alaska, they would become the next Puerto Rico, if that lucky. And like Quebec before them, they don't understand that the current provincial borders won't be the ones that would exist if they managed to secede.
Personally I'd be willing to work on a trade group: all the Albertans (and the few from BC, Sask, & Man) who want to secede could be swapped for an equal number of Americans who wanted to come North.

While a critic might argue that’s just swapping one federal government for another, Lorusso argues that’s not the case in the US, where states have powers that Canadian provinces do not.

States don't have the power to secede, so it's a hotel california situation. Health care is not under control of any state. $100k in extra debt per person = $4000+/year in interest. $3000/year per capita military spending, about to increase to $5000/year. Higher interest rates and home building costs, including O&G drilling costs due to tariffs on Canada.

If negotiating secession with Canada, Crown land should stay with Canada or at least form a land bridge within Canada. Canadian policies would charge more for transporting Alberta exports, and reduce their energy use. Alberta secession economic optimism is based on going all in on dead ender energy without any real friends. Don't expect keys to the store open arms invitation to being 51st state, either.

I could care less if a bunch of rednecks want to leave Canada, the problem is it immediately becomes part of the US. They are not saying that part loudly enough.

Any Albertan that wants to be "independent"/ be annexed by the USA can look forward to inheriting a $150k CDN per capita debt.

I think it would be a disaster tout cour.

What non Albertans need to understand is that "the separatists" in Alberta are two different groups. There are a significant number of Albertans who are upset with the way Alberta has been milked as a cash cow for decades without the corresponding political power like the populous provinces out east. Mostly they want to express their displeasure and if that means some sabre rattling and threats of separation thats fine. It works for Quebec and they just want to follow the same playbook. They would be the mild separatists who may or may not see the value in having Alberta be an independent state within Canada, but they are still a minority.

Then there are the radical separatists who believe that Alberta should separate and join the US. That is a VERY small group of people. If anything Albertans are fiercely independent, with an "I can do it myself" attitude and the last thing the vast majority wants is to jump out of a stable democracy into the shit show that exists down south.

So when you say 'separatists' you have to be clear who you are talking about. MOST of us want a more fair deal for Alberta but we're not pro US and particularly not pro Trump.