Bell: Here it is! Bombshell report on the costs of Alberta separating from Canada

It’s the look-see the Alberta government asked the University of Calgary to do.

The good, the bad and the ugly of Alberta leaving Canada and the number crunchers are not picking sides.

It is not for the faint of heart. The mathematics of an independent Alberta is eye-opening.

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They look at what could happen in the short run and the long run if Alberta goes it alone.

In the smooth exit everything goes … well … smoothly with the rest of Canada and others.

In the short term, less than five years after separation, the GDP, the overall economy, would be about 2.2 per cent lower than it would have been otherwise.

Over the long term, in 20 years or so, the GDP would actually be 3.4 per cent higher than it would have otherwise been.

In the short term, workers could see a dip in their earnings of more than $1,200 a year on average.

In the long term, take-home pay could rise by more than $1,800 a year.

Alberta’s debt would go up in a big way to a whopping $324 billion, an increase of $209 billion, as Alberta takes its share of Canada’s debt.

In the long run of the smooth exit “Alberta can pursue its own policies to build a stronger economy that could lead to more jobs, tax revenues and incomes.”

“There is certainly a scenario where Alberta’s economy could be better after separation, once a transition period is over.”