Would an independent Alberta be cut off from B.C.’s ports?

Blocking Alberta’s access to the coast would invite reciprocal disruption to billions of dollars in B.C. trade. It would harm port operators, railways, exporters, workers and consumers on both sides of the border.

Opponents of Alberta independence frequently point to the province’s lack of a coastline as a fatal economic weakness. The argument suggests British Columbia could simply deny Alberta access to Pacific ports, leaving its exports stranded.

That ignores geography and the enormous volume of British Columbia trade that must cross Alberta.

The Alberta Transition Council estimates that more than $55 billion in B.C. goods move east through Alberta every year. It also says more than 900,000 shipping containers arriving at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert travel inland through the province.

Alberta needs access to B.C.’s ports, but B.C. also needs access to Alberta’s highways, railways and connections to markets across Canada and the United States.

The Port of Prince Rupert is particularly dependent on rail. Its facilities are connected to inland markets by CN’s network, which passes through Alberta on its way east. Vancouver is served by both CN and CPKC, whose principal transcontinental routes also cross Alberta.

Blocking Alberta’s access to the coast would invite reciprocal disruption to billions of dollars in B.C. trade. It would harm port operators, railways, exporters, workers and consumers on both sides of the border.

That does not mean port access would be automatic or that negotiations would be unnecessary. An independent Alberta and Canada would need agreements covering customs, rail transportation, highway access, pipelines and the movement of goods across their new border.

Those negotiations could be difficult. But portraying Alberta as a powerless landlocked jurisdiction leaves out the leverage created by the same map.

Trade corridors work in both directions. B.C. provides Alberta with access to Pacific shipping, while Alberta provides B.C. with access to the continental economy. Neither side could obstruct the other without inflicting serious damage on itself.

The question is therefore not whether an independent Alberta would require a transportation agreement. It plainly would. The real question is whether Canada and Alberta would have strong economic reasons to reach one.

They would.

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Would an independent Alberta be cut off from B.C.’s ports?

Blocking Alberta’s access to the coast would invite reciprocal disruption to billions of dollars in B.C. trade. It would harm port operators, railways, exporters, workers and consumers on both sides of the border.

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