“What might surprise Albertans,” Ceci is quoted as saying, “is that Scotiabank is sitting on a detailed proposal to privatize ATB. In many Alberta communities, ATB is the only game in town for financial services. What surprises this Albertan about Ceci’s press release is not that some bank has made an offer to buy ATB. The possibility of selling ATB is a constant point of discussion in Alberta, and probably every big Canadian bank has thought about bidding for it. Since the Alberta government owns ATB, the risk of this expanded lending falls ultimately on the Alberta taxpayer, but it appears nowhere in the ordinary Alberta budget.

Source: National Post March 22, 2019 17:26 UTC