National Legislative Action

CFIB calls for reduced trade barriers within Canada

CFIB, as part of a national coalition of ten business, industry and professional associations is urging the federal and provincial governments to cooperate in finding ways to strengthen the economic union. The internal trade coalition is recommending that Ottawa take the lead in improving trade across Canada by legislating a set of open trade principles and establishing a standing internal trade tribunal to ensure that all parties adhere to those principles. Representatives of the ten associations say they are encouraged by the year-old Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) between Alberta and British Columbia. Moreover, the coalition notes with interest the recently launched trade negotiations between Ontario and Quebec. Nevertheless, Canada’s economy remains fragmented in ways that drive up costs and weaken competitiveness. As a result, it is often more difficult to move goods and services across provincial boundaries than over our international borders — and the emergence of new trade barriers threatens to further balkanize the Canadian economy.

The bold approach recommended by the coalition has four key elements that, taken together, would eliminate trade barriers that hamper the domestic economy:

• Federal legislation to establish a set of “open trade principles” designed to ensure a free and open market, without discriminatory practices;
• Creation of a standing internal trade tribunal that would be accessible to all Canadians as a means of resolving internal trade disputes;
• Implementation of all outstanding rulings by panels established under the 12-year-old Agreement on Internal Trade; and,
• An agreement that all tribunal orders and existing panel decisions would be subject to enforcement by the courts at the option of the disputants.