Changes to AIMCo are more about spiting Ottawa than Albertans

November 7, 2024 marked the last day of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation‘s (AIMCo) supposed independence from the government. Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party (UCP) has sacked the entire board and the chief executive officer (CEO) of AIMCo. Considering Smith has proposed leaving the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), firing the AIMCo board really just seems like an attempt to bring this to fruition. Even if that means creating division between Alberta and the rest of the country.

Finance Minister Nate Horner cited rising fees, rising headcount, and an inability to meet performance expectations as the reason for firing the entire board. However, I don’t believe this is the whole reason for the changes made. Furthermore, I don’t think this move is meant to help Albertans. Rather, it’s to spite Ottawa. Ultimately, AIMCo is just another casualty in Smith’s battle for provincial autonomy.

This isn’t the first time the UCP has fired the entire board of an important corporation for Albertans. In November 2022, the UCP government fired the entire board of Alberta Health Services (AHS). Leading up to this, the government criticized how AHS handled the COVID-19 pandemic. While firing the AHS board was a promise Smith ran on during her leadership race, firing the board and taking control of AHS was about something else altogether: the greenlighting of prototype private health care in Alberta. It seems the termination of the AIMCo board is the same sort of overreach to gain control and implement massive changes based on the UCP’s own agenda. 

Smith’s made bold moves in the name of Alberta’s autonomy before. Like the 1:00 a.m. semi-secretive passing of the Sovereignty Act. Or her proposed amendments to the Alberta’s Bill of Rights in an attempt to pull firearm control away from the federal government. Many of the UCP’s actions and propositions seem to be designed to spite the federal government. One such proposition is leaving the CPP.

AIMCo currently handles Albertans’ pensions. Ultimately, this could allow more control for the UCP to pull out of the CPP and reinvest those funds into AIMCo. This firing, like the firing of the AHS board, is a step to implement changes other than the ones the party campaigned on. By leaving the CPP, Alberta looks to gain a possible $150 billion in funds for our own pension management systems. AIMCo would most likely be in charge of this. 

Canada’s 22nd prime minister, Stephen Harper, has been appointed to take the lead of AIMCo. After announcing the appointment, Horner said it has nothing to do with an Alberta pension plan. However, taking into account Harper’s Firewall letter to former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, it would seem to be exactly that. Harper wrote to Klein in 2001 advising him to leave the CPP and reinvest into an Alberta pension plan. The letter overall shares a lot of autonomist and semi-separatist ideas that align well with Smith’s UCP.

Pulling out of the CPP has been in talks for some time. It aligns closely with the rest of Smith’s “Alberta first” and anti-Ottawa sentiments. The party has long been looking to gain more autonomy for Alberta. Now, the UCP is just turning to almost petty measures to do so. While pulling out from the CPP could save money for Alberta, it would greatly strain our relationship with the rest of the country. But maybe that’s the goal. 

Smith is yet again seeking to gain more control for Alberta and citing freedom as her reasoning. But realistically, these changes are more about spiting Ottawa than helping Albertans.