A group representing more than 130 chief executives from Alberta investment firms, retailers and construction companies has come out against independence ahead of the October 19 referendum, warning separation would create investor uncertainty.

On Wednesday's Buffalo Roundtable, Sheila Gunn Reid, Lise Merle and Cory Morgan looked at the compared the claims from the Business Council of Alberta to what's really happening.

Sheila said the audacity of the argument is staggering. After 11 years of federal Liberal governments wiping out jobs, cancelling pipelines, and stifling resource development, the business community is now warning Albertans about uncertainty?

"Investors are already scared away," Lise added. "They're already gone."

"Ottawa has shown us what the certainty is," said Western Standard columnist Cory Morgan. "It's high taxes, high regulations, becoming an investment pariah, and having the rug pulled out whenever you try a long-term project."

His analogy: you're on a ship heading for an iceberg. You know what happens if you stay the course. The dark water to the left or right is at least uncertain. "I'd rather take my chances turning than knowing for sure I'm going to slam into that."

Council president Adam Legge also cited progress under the current federal government as a reason to stay, an argument the Buffalo Roundtable panel found unconvincing, given Suncor's CEO has publicly blasted the feds for inaction and CNRL has announced it is pulling investment. 

"There's never been a pipeline talked into the ground in the history of the world," Cory said. 

Negotiations with the U.S. were scrapped on a Friday so government officials could "go home on the weekend," Lise said. "They won't even work the weekend for you."

The panel also reacted to Pierre Poilievre deploying federal Conservative MPs, including Dane Lloyd, to campaign against independence among Conservative Albertan voters.

"Lloyd and Poilievre aren't campaigning to Albertan Conservatives," Cory said bluntly. "They're campaigning to Toronto and Montreal. This is virtue signalling to say, 'We're not one of those independent-seeking redneck Albertans.' It's just another example of the Conservatives taking Alberta for granted."

Sheila said the federal party should have stayed out entirely, suggesting it "alienates a lot of people."

"Alberta Conservative MPs are meant to take Alberta's best ideas to Ottawa and advocate for Albertans," added Lise. "What we have is a bunch of them bringing and defending Ottawa's bad ideas back to their Albertan constituents."

The panel also highlighted a social media exchange between Jared Wesley, a federalist Alberta academic, and Keith Wilson's Let Alberta Decide campaign.

Wesley posted that his latest Common Ground study finds support for separatism remains low. Wilson dug into the report and found that Wesley's own data shows Albertans trust their provincial government over Ottawa, feel powerless in Confederation, and broadly support the nine other ballot questions — including Senate abolition and immigration-related questions — across all demographics including NDP voters.

"Your own findings make the case for option two better than your tweet does," Sheila said, quoting Wilson. Wesley, she noted, had already blocked her. "I'm still going to fact check you, Jared," she said.

The Buffalo Roundtable airs Wednesdays at 11 a.m. MT / 1 p.m. ET.