December 13, 2018
Premier Brian Pallister Calls for Leadership to Repair the Economic Union
Following the meeting of Canada’s first ministers in Montreal last week, Premier Brian Pallister today re-emphasized the tremendous cost of internal trade barriers to the economy and to households across Canada, and called for decisive federal action in the national interest.
“Premiers have recently made some modest progress on reducing trade barriers, but larger federal obstacles loom on the horizon. These obstacles jeopardize the economic union upon which our country was built, sow regional conflict and harm our shared national interests,” said Pallister.
“Bills C-68 and C-69 do more than miss opportunities for growth and shared prosperity; they compound problems. They add vagueness where certainty and leadership is required. Critical efforts to secure market access will continue to be frustrated. Vital flood-protection infrastructure will continue to be needlessly delayed. Opportunities to build a new clean, green national energy corridor will be missed. Members of the Canadian family will continue to suffer.
“If we are to realize a new national dream based on shared prosperity and environmentally responsible growth, there must be accountability and clarity. The federal government must lead; it must decisively act in the national interest, and it must do so at this critical moment.”
Through Bill C-69, in particular, Premier Pallister noted the federal government has tried to please everyone but has succeeded in serving no one.
“The legislation should signal that we have learned some hard lessons and that we are taking a balanced, responsible approach toward opportunities for growth,” he said. “Instead, it introduces new undefined criteria and pushes consultation requirements into the unknown. No one is sure what legal ramifications this will have on resource development.
“In Manitoba, we’ve been told by Ottawa that additional consultations are required to build flood-protection measures through the Lake Manitoba Outlet – meaning our people could face years of extra unacceptable risks.”
Pallister insisted the federal government must reassert the sense of co-operative nation building upon which Canada was built.
“Our commitment to a national vision has eroded over the past few decades,” said Pallister. “I don’t think we would have been able to build a national railway or a national highway system given today’s regulatory and political climate. No province, territory or individual First Nation should be capable of exercising a veto over critical aspects of our economic union. They cannot be given the power to hold our economy hostage and jeopardize our future.”
In July, Canada’s premiers committed to immediate and meaningful progress on internal trade. That work was led by Premier Pallister and Premier Stephen McNeil of Nova Scotia. Last week, all premiers confirmed progress in the areas of transportation (wide-based single tires at weight parity with conventional dual tires on all major trucking routes), personal use limits for alcohol crossing provincial and territorial borders, harmonization toward a common standard for occupational health and safety equipment, and on a multi-jurisdictional registry access system to streamline business registration requirements and reduce duplication costs.
“We have taken some small positive steps but we need to think bigger and move faster,” Pallister said. “We need leadership in order to rediscover the blueprint for Confederation.”
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ATTACHED
Backgrounder
Background Information - https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/newslinks/2018/12/BG-Internal_Trade_Barriers-PR.pdf