Minister ‘taken aback’ by Alberta trade challenge
Alberta’s economic development minister says he has filed a trade challenge he claims will end the Wall government’s licence plate ban — and possibly cost Saskatchewan millions.
“This petty and ridiculous restriction has real consequences for businesses and hard-working people,” Deron Bilous told reporters in the Alberta legislature on Thursday. “We are going to end it.”
He said he reported Saskatchewan to the New West Partnership secretariat on Thursday, over a policy that requires Alberta contractors to get Saskatchewan plates when working on government job sites in this province. He said Saskatchewan can still avoid a dispute resolution process by “killing ” the measure.
Saskatchewan’s economy minister, Steven Bonk, said he was “taken aback” when he heard about the move. He had hoped the dispute could be resolved amicably.
“No one’s looking for a trade war or a trade spat,” he told reporters just before Bilous spoke Thursday. “I thought that we agreed to meet in January to discuss all issues.”
Alberta’s announcement came after an ultimatum — set for midnight Wednesday — came and went without a response, according to Bilous.
“They made it clear they had no intention of backing down,” he said.
Bilous said he is “100-per-cent confident” that Alberta will win the dispute. That could mean monetary penalties for Saskatchewan — up to a maximum of $5 million.
Bonk has justified the new policy by claiming Saskatchewan contractors face similar plate restrictions in Alberta.
But Bilous said he provided no evidence, only “rumours.”
Alberta Infrastructure Minister Brian Mason added that Saskatchewan’s position does not appear to be “grounded in fact.”
He said he’s surveyed contractors to check.
“Nobody has told me that Saskatchewan licence plates are unwelcome on government job sites in our province,” he said. “The reaction has been one of bewilderment and confusion.”
The two Alberta ministers produced their own evidence. They called on the executive director of the Lloydminster Construction Association, who told reporters that she has seen “no significant evidence that this is happening.” Bonk stressed that Saskatchewan does have evidence, but is unwilling to share the names of affected companies for fear of inciting retaliation.
“We have heard these stories,” he said. “They’re worried about being discriminated against if they bring their concerns forward.”
The Leader-Post reached out to the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association, which Bonk mentioned as the source of his evidence, but did not receive a response by press time.
Mason tried to clear up one issue that has divided the two sides. Alberta has claimed the ban applies retroactively, while Saskatchewan insists it doesn’t. On Thursday, Mason said it’s being added to contracts that have already been tendered, but not awarded.
He criticized Saskatchewan for providing “shifting sands of reasons” for the ban, from Alberta’s lack of a provincial sales tax, to new craft brewery measures to creating a “level playing field” for contractors.
Bonk said the province is concerned about all of those things, and plans to bring them forward as the two governments spar over licence plates.
He said he’s perceived “a disturbing pattern of protectionist measures coming out of Alberta.”
“We thought we’d have time to sit down and have a rational discussion about this with our counterparts in Alberta,” he said.
Bilous said he’s ready to discuss “trade irritants” between the two provinces. But he said Saskatchewan wanted Alberta to hold off on the challenge while those talks take place. He called that “hypocritical,” given that — in his view — the Wall government started the licence plate war.
The New West Partnership challenge could take more than 200 days to resolve, Bilous said. But the parties will have a 30-day consultation period to work out their differences before the matter comes before a panel. Despite the harsh words, both sides say they want that to work — with Bilous saying he’s ready to talk it out in the neutral territory of Lloydminster next month.
“What we don’t want to do is continue down a path that’s going to see this escalate and escalate and escalate,” he said.