Federal Minister of Labour Randy Boissonault said he is against any attempt by the Alberta government to leave the Canada Pension Plan.

Boissonault told CTV’s Power Play on Friday: “I can tell you that I and the federal government are very clearly committed to working with the people of Alberta to keep them in the Canada Pension Plan,” "It is simply wrong to politicize pensions."

The ruling United Conservative Party in Alberta asserts that the province's workers invest in the Canada Pension Plan more than they receive, and that Alberta could earn billions if it managed its own pension plan.

The Chief Canadian Actuary is now looking into the matter, including the calculations contained in a report commissioned by Alberta which said the province would owe $334 billion if it left the Canada Pension Plan, more than half of the total amount in the federal fund.

Boissonault said, "Based on the calculations the Alberta government put on the table, if Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario all decided to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan, they would somehow be entitled to more than 120 percent of the funding - we would pay them, "We must leave the Canada Pension Plan," "It's just madness, it makes no sense, so we'll take the time we need to get these numbers."

Boissonault, who represents Edmonton Centre for the Liberals, said he would lead the campaign against the proposal put forward by Premier Danielle Smith's government if it came to a possible referendum in Alberta.

So a question to the Premier and Finance Minister, why are you doing this? Why are you chasing pensioners? Boissonault said: "This is wrong. Take your job seriously and start addressing the real issues related to housing and opioid addiction, actually growing our economy, focusing on oil and gas and greening our economy."

Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner spoke to CTV’s Power Play on Friday after his meeting with federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and regional counterparts about the issue. Horner confirmed his government is studying the matter and has not made a final decision.

Horner said: "All we sought was clarity." "That’s all we have done and put on the table for the public to have a conversation about, is this something Alberta should follow?"

In response to Boissonault's criticism, Horner also showed willingness to reach a compromise on his party's strong opposition to the carbon tax in Ottawa and suggested he would help Albertans take advantage of the recently announced three-year carbon tax exemption on home heating oil.

Horner said on Friday, "I heard him tell me to take my job seriously and to treat politics seriously, so given that you just said that, I had an idea just now," "I will work hard and quickly to secure support for Albertans to switch from natural gas to home heating oil. If this is the last card in the federal carbon tax, I want to make sure citizens of Alberta can enjoy it."

Jill McGowan, head of the Alberta Federation of Labour, which represents 28 unions and 170,000 workers in both the public and private sectors across the province, spoke to Freeland right after her meeting with regional finance ministers.

"Based on my meetings today, it’s clear that the Alberta Finance Minister had a tough trip when he met with other finance ministers today, and they sent him a very clear message, and that message was that Alberta cannot expect to withdraw," McGowan told CTV News. "With $344 billion in the CPP fund. There will be negotiations and they will be tough negotiations because other provinces realize that if Alberta splits from the CPP, it will have huge financial implications for people living in other provinces."

McGowan described the Alberta government's proposal as a "crazy idea" that would affect all Canadians.

"The idea of Alberta withdrawing from the CPP has been around for about 40 years, and it has always been on the margins of political debate in our province, but with Danielle Smith’s election as Premier, it has been brought to the center, but who said 'they want it?'"

"Workers do not want it, the business community does not want it, and clearly ordinary Albertans do not want it. So the question is, why are they doing it? We believe they are using it as some sort of bargaining chip to play political games with Ottawa, which represents, from our point of view, an inappropriate use of the retirement savings of millions of Albertans."