Separation talk boost sales of Canadian, Alberta flags

The feud over separation is boosting sales in flags and souvenir stores in Edmonton even as others worry it can hurt the province’s economy.

 Albertan and Canadian flags are flying off the shelves at ‘O Canada gear’ in South Central Edmonton as Albertans are set to vote on whether to have a separation referendum this fall.

 “We were selling 20 to 30 flags a week. We sell a little bit more of Canada still, but Alberta’s definitely picking up,” says Joe Nykoluk, owner of O Canada Gear.

Over on the West End, The Flag Shop owner Trevor Zilm says the biggest boost to his business came when both Forever Canadian and Stay Free Alberta movements collected signatures for their referendum petitions, before Premier Danielle Smith’s announcement.

“We were selling a lot of flags to people who were going to rallies on both sides of the issue,” Zilm said. “Over the last couple of weeks, it’s been a little bit quieter, and I don’t know, given the question and how it was kind of framed. It’s a tough one.”

While these businesses see a boost, Edmonton’s mayor says he is hearing from those worried about the negative impact of the separation debate.

“All it does is it harms our ability to attract economic investment, which in turn affects the municipality’s financial sustainability, which in turn affects people’s property taxes,” Mayor Andrew Knack said.

Experts like Concordia University economics professor Moshe Lander agrees with Knack’s assessment.

“Merely the talk of separation creates uncertainty and businesses don’t like uncertainty,” Lander said.

He warns that separation talks could increase the unemployment rate and lead to investors backing out, pointing to the 1995 Quebec referendum and Brexit. 

“When that increases uncertainty, what any reasonable business would do is scale back on investment or you might even say I want to be able to do those things, but I’m not comfortable that I can do it in Alberta. So you know what, I’m going to pull up roots and I’m going to go a Kelowna or Saskatoon or Regina.”

Meanwhile, patriotism on both sides is driving sales for at least some businesses ahead of the Oct. 19 referendum.

“I’m not weighing in the political environment, and worrying about something that could, might or should happen,” Zilm says.

“You’ve got to understand in today’s day and age, to coin a phrase, we have to be a little bit like Switzerland, and that’s what I am,” Nykoluk says.