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Premier Jason Kenney -- The Canadian Press

Alberta will study already ‘compelling case’ for its exit from CPP; Kenney

Nov 7, 2019 | 5:08 PM

EDMONTON — Premier Jason Kenney says there’s a “compelling case” to be made for his province to exit the half-century-old Canada Pension Plan an idea sure to face increasing scrutiny over the coming months.

With growing frustrations in his province about its place in the federation, Kenney has revealed that a deeper analysis is on the way to consider Alberta’s potential withdrawal from the national pension plan.

The move, if it goes forward, would pull Albertans’ multibillion-dollar share from the $400-billion pool of assets that are handled by the investment manager, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The proposed departure, Kenney said, will be examined by a panel his government intends to create as a way to assess “fairness” for Alberta within the federation.

Talk of the CPP withdrawal follows a federal election result late last month that many say exemplified Prairie frustration toward the Liberal government in Ottawa. The federal Liberals were reduced to a minority mandate after failing to capture a single seat in Alberta or Saskatchewan.

There’s also been momentum behind separatist sentiments in the two resource-dependent provinces, where their economies have struggled through a commodity downturn.