The Council replies: Letters to the editor
Trade barriers a non-issue

Stuart Trew
Times & Transcript (Moncton)
December 11, 2007
Re: Provincial trade rules slammed, Dec. 6

The federal government says inter-provincial trade barriers cost the Canadian economy $3-billion per year, or 0.25 per cent of the national GDP (Provincial trade rules slammed, Dec. 6).

We should take that figure with a grain of salt.

While there is no definitive list of so-called barriers, there is also no consensus on how much money they actually cost Canadian business.

A discredited Conference Board report, used by the Alberta and B.C. governments to justify signing a sweeping Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA), claimed the B.C. economy alone would save an exaggerated $5- billion per year.

But a more thorough public inquiry convinced the government of Saskatchewan to avoid signing TILMA because there was no economic case for the top-down regulatory harmonization it prescribes.

Jim Flaherty is now promoting TILMA as a solution to the problem of inter- provincial trade barriers.
It would be better to say this is a solution in search of a problem.

Stuart Trew, Researcher, The Council of Canadians

Visit canadians.org/TILMA for more information.