Alberta secession talk ‘unhelpful,’ Atco chief executive says

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CALGARY — The chief executive of Atco Ltd. says discussions around Alberta secession are already hurting the investment climate.

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Nancy Southern says Asian partners in a major hydrogen project have said they won’t make final investment decisions unless there is certainty around the Alberta separatism question.

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She says the prospect of Alberta independence is raising too many questions for companies to feel confident making big investment decisions.

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Those include how it would get its products to coastal ports, what kind of trade deals it would have with its neighbours, what currency it would use and how stable the economy would be.

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Southern says she understands Albertans’ frustration with the federal government over environmental regulations affecting the energy sector, but that she believes Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to change things.

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“I think the separatist discussion is very unhelpful and not constructive to Alberta,” Southern said in an interview following her company’s annual shareholder meeting.

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She highlighted potential opportunities for the Calgary-based company’s defence arm in an increasingly unstable geopolitical climate.

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Last month Ottawa awarded a contract to a joint venture between Atco Frontec and the Inuvialuit Development Corp. for a new radar defence system in the Northwest Territories.

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The two-year contract is worth $48.4 million. It covers the design, construction, installation and operation of the Polar Over-the-Horizon Radar system.

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“The opportunities in Canada are really quite astounding, especially as Canada moves to modernize the Norad system and strengthen our northern defence,” Southern told the meeting.

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She said the system is “very needed in today’s North” and it can detect targets at long ranges — hundreds to thousands of kilometres.

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She said she’s encouraged Carney is taking action on housing, defence and energy.

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“As we stand at a pretty critical juncture in our country’s, province’s and company’s future, and as we navigate through these very turbulent times, the uncertainty that we’ve faced in recent years is likely to persist and potentially intensify,” Southern said.

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“Trade tensions, supply chain, inflationary pressures, geopolitical conflict, and the accelerating pace of technological change are all converging to create a stubbornly complex and unpredictable environment.”

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Atco, with some 21,000 employees and a global footprint, has subsidiaries in a diverse array of sectors, including defence, modular building construction, electricity distribution and transmission, and more.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2025.

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Companies in this story: (TSX: ACO. X)

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