Farm groups have raised concerns related to interprovincial trade
Members of the Canadian government and business community will meet Friday to discuss Canada-U.S. relations.
The Canada-U.S. Economic Summit in Toronto on Feb. 7 will bring together people from the Council on Canada-U.S. Relations, business and labour leaders, to explore ways of diversifying Canada’s economy.
This summit comes as President Trump provided Canada with a 30-day tariff pause.
“The Canada-U.S. Economic Summit is Team Canada at its best,” Prime Minister Trudeau said in a statement. “We are bringing together partners across business, civil society, and organized labour to find ways to galvanize our economy, create more jobs and bigger paycheques, make it easier to build and trade within our borders, and diversify export markets. We want businesses, investors, and workers to choose Canada.”
Some of the members on the Council on Canada-U.S. Relations have ties to agriculture.
Martin Caron, for example, is president of the Union des producteurs agricoles in Quebec and a member of the board for the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. Steve Verheul served as Canada’s Chief Agriculture Negotiator from 2003 to 2009, and Linda Hasenfratz is president and CEO of Linamar.
Part of the summit will include discussions on breaking down internal trade barriers.
Farm groups note that differing regulations are a problem.
“One province may allow you a maximum weight of X, while another province may allow a lower weight,” Kyle Larkin, executive director of Grain Growers of Canada, told Global News. “So you’re not allowed to transport as much grain as you would like. And you may have to do more round trips. It causes major inefficiencies in the way that grain farmers deliver their grain.”
Western Canada has taken steps to address interprovincial trade.
The New West Partnership Trade Agreement between the Prairie provinces and B.C., for example, has been fully implemented since 2013 and helps avoid measures that restrict or impair trade between the four jurisdictions.
And beginning this year, approved B.C. wineries can sell products directly to consumers in Alberta.
Officials will re-evaluate the wine deal in one year.