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WestJet CEO Ed Sims has taken aim at the Wexit movement, saying talk of Alberta separating from Canada runs counter to the economic interests of both the Calgary-based airline he leads and the province as a whole.

“I won’t tolerate that kind of language,” Sims said, when asked in an interview for his thoughts on Wexit, the movement that promotes an independent Alberta and that has come into the spotlight in the aftermath of the recent federal election.

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“Having come from the U.K., I’ve seen three years of total economic paralysis and stagnation caused by Brexit,” Sims added. “I don’t envy our (U.K.) colleagues trying to deal with attracting people to a U.K. that feels very divided. And there’s no reason for Alberta to feel divided from the rest of Canada.”

While Sims said he doesn’t for a second underestimate the difficulties the Alberta economy has faced in the last year — pointing to continued pipeline delays, recent layoffs at Husky Energy and Encana Corp.’s decision to move its corporate headquarters to the U.S. as examples — he said most economists are forecasting some degree of economic improvement in 2020.