Unions representing teachers and nurses in Alberta said they weren’t consulted about a provincial move to take control of the $18-billion Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund (ATRF), as well as funds from the Workers’ Compensation Board and Alberta Health Services. (Calgary Herald)

Talking point: The Alberta government is billing this as a way to save money on administrative costs. There’s a much larger potential financial benefit in terms of returns, but the Crown corporation taking over—the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)—lags behind at least one of the funds it would be taking up. Last year, AIMCo had a 2.3 per cent return. The ATRF netted 9.6 per cent in fiscal 2017–18. Another purported benefit of switching to AIMCo is scale. The institutional investor already has $108 billion in assets under management. Adding another few tens of billions will put it closer to the $153-billion British Columbia Investment Management Corporation.