SEE YOU IN COURT.

Yet another brouhaha is bubbling between Alberta and Saskatchewan, this time over licence plates.

Saskatchewan Transportation Minister Dave Marit declared Wednesday that all Alberta contractors working in his province will have to get a local licence plate.

The new rule applies only to Albertans, Marit told reporters in Regina, because everyone else already has to pay a provincial sales tax.

He also said he’s heard Saskatchewan contractors are being barred from Alberta work sites because they don’t have Wild Rose Country plates.

Alberta Trade Minister Deron Bilous shot back Wednesday that Marit’s assertion was ridiculous.

There is no such rule, he said, and issued an ultimatum: Roll it back within a week, or Alberta will see you in court.

Bilous said the rule change is a clear contravention of the New West Trade Partership, a freetrade agreement between British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Marit admitted he got legal advice along those lines before he issued the directive. He also didn’t talk to anyone in Alberta first.

“This is simply levelling the playing field,” Marit said.

“There could be 10, 15, 20 different vehicles on a job site on a highway job. Now they’re going to have to have a Saskatchewan plate instead of an Alberta plate.”

Marit said that could mean the difference for Saskatchewan contractors whose bids come in close to two or three per cent higher than those from Alberta. When asked if it was worth jeopardizing a trade deal over, Marit said “Sure.”

Bilous said the move “smacks of desperation.”