Matthew Scace, The Canadian Press

As separatist discontent bubbles up anew in Alberta, experts say a vote to sever ties with Canada would pitch the country into unexplored territory on everything from money to First Nations and national parks.

“You’re in terra incognita. You’re off the map when we get to that stage of the proceedings,” said law professor Eric Adams.

“A lot of things are going to be broken on the way out the door.”

Crime rates in rural communities are consistently higher than in urban centres, suggests new data presented in a Statistics Canada report -- a long-term trend one criminologist says is unsurprising.

The report, published Tuesday, found the rate of police-reported crime in rural Canadian communities was 34 per cent higher than the urban rate. That disparity was especially pronounced across the Prairies and in rural British Columbia.