Tear down these walls
This week, federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for trade will be meeting in Toronto for the first time in over four years. This is a rather disheartening fact considering almost 40 per cent of Canadian trade happens between provinces. This is a new start, however, and expectations are running high. The Canadian business community is hoping for real progress on the year-old promise by premiers for a new internal trade deal.
Our members know: trade barriers stifle growth, limit productivity and hinder prosperity. They impede businesses’ ability to grow and compete internationally. Disjointed and misaligned regulatory frameworks slow down projects and impact investment decisions. We have been stressing this message for years and the time has come for our political leaders to step up and give Canada the internal trade framework it deserves.
The Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) is celebrating its 20-year anniversary on July 1, but there will be no fireworks. At the time of the original AIT, Canadians were promised a new era in interprovincial trade, a reduction or even an elimination of barriers between jurisdictions. That promise has yet to come to frui- tion. Some progress has been made, but the sad truth is that our international trade agreements are more ambitious and comprehensive than the AIT.
Right now, the landmarks of modern trade agreements such as regulatory co-operation and stakeholder involvement are missing. Canadian businesses and consumers are the ones paying the price for these inefficiencies. Those who may suffer economically from trade barriers are unable to access dispute resolution directly or awards if found to be aggrieved.
In the current model, decisionmaking is wrought with challenges — including the ability of a single province to hold up progress unilaterally. Even once the consensus needed for modernization has been reached, it could be years before decisions are actually implemented.
Some provinces are waking up to the problems caused by a fracture domestic market. For example, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan created the New West Economic Partnership. More recently, Quebec and Ontario — accounting for half of the Canadian economy — reached a significant deal on procurement. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have agreed to work together on the reduction of red tape and the alignment of business regulations. The federal government also deserves kudos in creating an Internal Trade Promotion Office that will help focus its efforts on the file.
As an alliance representing small and large businesses from across Canada, we are happy to see some progress — but more can, and must, be done. While positive, these initiatives are temporary solutions that ignore the larger problem.
The meeting this week is an important one. Regulatory co-operation has to be given a serious priority and technical barriers to trade must be addressed.
Canada needs a new regime governing internal trade regime that is at least as ambitious as its international trade agreements. This new regime should be formed in a collaborative effort that ensures no one jurisdiction can hold up progress. Canada can no longer afford to let politics come in the way of economic growth. We are one strong country and deserve to have one market.