An independent Alberta could back a new currency with its gold and oil.
Claimed by: Alberta Prosperity Project currency proposals
False: False as written according to the settled evidence. How we rate.
Summary
Modern currencies hold their value through institutional credibility, not commodity backing. Central banks and economists are nearly unanimous against tying a currency to gold, because it does not guarantee economic stability, the supply of gold is not fixed, and larger gold producers end up with influence over monetary policy. Backing money with oil that is still in the ground does not work either, since that oil cannot be redeemed on demand. A new Alberta currency would also give up the Bank of Canada's role as lender of last resort, the capacity to create domestic-currency liquidity and stabilize the financial system in a crisis, and would have to build that institutional credibility from scratch. The proposal confuses resource wealth with monetary capacity.
Evidence
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis notes significant problems with tying a currency to gold: it does not guarantee financial or economic stability, the supply of gold is not fixed, and larger gold producers would gain influence over monetary policy, which is why economists and central bankers are largely unanimous against a gold standard.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (why the US no longer follows a gold standard)
The Bank of Canada describes its unique capacity to create Canadian-dollar liquidity and act as lender of last resort to prevent or mitigate financial instability, a backstop a new Alberta currency would forgo and have to rebuild.