Alberta would feel effects of ‘Brexit’: economist
Posted Jun 23, 2016 8:17 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Alberta is a long way from the United Kingdom but that doesn’t mean a ‘Brexit’ won’t affect the province.
Alberta-based businesses don’t have a lot of direct ties to Britain or the European Union, but ATB Financial chief economist Todd Hirsch says there will be indirect effects.
“That will be what happens to global financial markets and what happens to commodity prices if the United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union,” he said.
Market uncertainty is not a good thing for an oil-producing province, since commodity prices could come down even more.
“For Alberta, that is crude oil,” he explained. “We’re already in an environment where crude oil prices are struggling right now, the last thing we need is another drop in oil prices, and we could see that temporarily in the short term.”
Hirsch says a potential ‘Brexit’ is one more sign countries are becoming more isolationist, adding Canada would suffer in a world where countries are isolated with respect to global trade.
He explains Canada has the framework for a free-trade agreement with the European Union and if the United Kingdom leaves, it takes 70 million potential customers with it.
