Premiers agree on trade deal
B.C., Ontario and Quebec to allow online purchases of wine from each province
WHITEHORSE — Canada’s premiers and territorial leaders have agreed in principle on an internal trade deal they say will help create jobs and improve the economy.
“This truly is a historic day,” said Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski, speaking at the end of a two-day premiers’ meeting in Whitehorse.
It’s not clear, however, what will immediately change under the agreement, which will replace an old agreement dating back 23 years.
“The old agreement covered only specific sectors of the economy,” Pasloski said.
“The new agreement covers virtually the entire Canadian economy and will have unprecedented transparency.”
Provinces and territories will be able to keep exemptions and preferential programs they now have, but creating new exemptions will become more difficult.
“Yukon and the other two territories as well as other provinces have exemptions in place. We will be using those exemptions,” Pasloski said.
The premiers also agreed to remove many of the barriers that now exist, although a list of those changes has not been made public.
Pasloski said there are still some technical issues to work out before the deal is submitted to the federal government and First Nations.
Earlier in the day, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec agreed to allow residents of each province to make online purchases of wine from the two other provinces.
“We haven’t freed the grapes entirely, but they’re a little bit freer,” B.C. Premier Christy Clark said in making the announcement.
A deal to allow consumers to purchase wine online through each province’s governmentcontrolled liquor monopoly might seem to some like a small step in the context of the overall agreement on free interprovincial trade the premiers were seeking at the meeting.
But Quebec’s Philippe Couillard said it was just the start.
“More will come,” he said. “We didn’t want to tie us down and wait until we work on the whole gamut of issues around our statesponsored agencies.”
Couillard said that could take another two or three years.
The announcement was an indication of the difficulty of achieving a deal to allow Canadians to trade freely with their fellow citizens.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley acknowledged that several provinces, including hers, are seeking exemptions for economicdevelopment initiatives.
“It’s really important that we open up trade across the country,” she said. “But it’s also important to ensure that, where there’s a need for provincial governments to engage intentionally in economic stimulus or regional development, that they’re able to do that.”
Earlier in the day, Clark emphasized the importance of internal free trade, especially after U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement during his speech Thursday night.
“If there was ever a time when Canadians need to come together and have free trade in our own country, it must be now when Americans are making noises like that,” she said.
The next summer meeting of the premiers is scheduled for July 17, 2017, in Edmonton.