Ontario, Saskatchewan premiers vow to reduce provincial trade barriers

“Most of barriers when it comes to free trade between provinces is regulations. We’re going to put a list together, both myself and Premier Moe, of different sectors — let’s use transportation for example — where we can start knocking down some regulations,” he said.

Though they gave few concrete details of their plan, Moe promised swift action. “I think you can look for us to move very quickly on initiatives,” he said.

The pair would not, however, say why they did not send representatives to a meeting on internal trade last week.

“We’re just signing an MOU and we’ll move forward on that MOU,” Ford said.

Ontario’s New Democrats said the two premiers’ absence from the meeting suggests they aren’t interested in working with the rest of Canada on this issue.

“If you’re going to have interprovincial trade agreements they should be negotiated on a pan-Canadian basis,” NDP legislator Peter Tabuns said. “A patchwork is not a good thing for us, it’s not a good thing for the rest of the country.”

Ford and Moe are already joined in the opposition to Ottawa’s carbon pricing plan for provinces that don’t have their own system in place by next year.

Both provinces have launched legal challenges to the federal plan and are intervening in each other’s cases.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Ontario, Saskatchewan premiers vow to reduce provincial trade barriers

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