CALGARY—Alberta’s new Fair Deal panel to look at ways the province might gain more independence could be a costly proposal, Calgary’s mayor says.

“When I look at the things that panel is looking at, I see increased cost,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Wednesday.

Premier Jason Kenney announced the panel on Saturday during his keynote speech at the Manning Centre conference in Red Deer. The panel is set to consider breaking away from the Canada Pension Plan, establishing Alberta’s own revenue agency and police force and drafting a separate constitution for the province.

Nenshi said the provincial government shouldn’t discount the expenses that would come with those ideas.

“The benefits really had better be there, because at the same time we’re cutting benefits to severely handicapped people, for example, but we’re increasing cost in other ways,” he said.

“We really have to make that justification, I think.”

As part of the United Conservative government’s first budget, released last month, the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) benefit will no longer be indexed to inflation. That means people who receive the benefit will get the same amount of funding every month for at least the next four years, even as the cost of living rises.

Calgary Chamber president and CEO Sandip Lalli said the panel might be part of the relationship between the federal and provincial government — but she doesn’t see much in it that might help the business community.

“They’re going to do the panels and the town halls and get some feedback, but it’s not adding greater certainty or clarity to what we’re doing here in Alberta to be more competitive.”

If the panel’s ideas are implemented, Lalli said they’d represent a “big government” approach that could create a regulatory burden for the business community. She said Alberta needs to ensure its investment climate remains competitive as the Fair Deal panel carries out its research

“How does big government reconcile itself with (being) open for business?”

But Lalli believed the provincial government is aware of this tension and is simply gathering feedback through its Fair Deal panel before making any decisions.

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She said the chamber wants to get back to discussing how to enable more natural resource development and innovation in Alberta’s economy.

With files from Brennan Doherty

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