Ontario, Manitoba ink deal to boost interprovincial trade

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew signed an agreement Wednesday to boost the movement of goods and labour between the two provinces, including direct-to-consumer alcohol sales in place by the end of June.

Both premiers signed a memorandum of understanding, which followed Ontario signing similar bilateral deals with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

“Our two provinces already do approximately $19.5 billion of interprovincial trade every single year, but we can do better,” Ford said.

“As neighbours and partners within Canada, Ontario and Manitoba can lead the way by creating new opportunities for goods, services and workers to move freely between our provinces.”

Ontario recently tabled legislation to do away with all exceptions in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement that protected certain goods and services.

Manitoba is set to table similar legislation, Kinew said. He said the new deal is about trust.

“We trust that somebody who gets a red seal in Ontario, somebody who gets a professional designation in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, we trust that they’re gonna be able to do a great job if they come to Manitoba,” Kinew said.

“And we can guarantee that you can trust us as well, too, that when we send our tradespeople, we send our engineers, we send our best.”

New Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to get rid of interprovincial trade barriers at the federal level by Canada Day.

Nova Scotia passed a law similar to Ontario’s bill and Prince Edward Island recently introduced legislation to eliminate barriers to trade and labour mobility with reciprocating jurisdictions.

Ford again asked all premiers to join the others already at the table.

“We’re looking forward to signing with P.E.I., looking forward to signing with Saskatchewan and Alberta,” he said.

Ford said he is also optimistic Quebec will come on board as he’s been texting with Quebec Premier Francois Legault.

“Before July 1, hopefully, we can get all the territories and provinces on board and it’d be a shame if they weren’t because they’re going to miss the train and it’s not going to benefit their communities,” Ford said.

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Manitoba’s top exports to Ontario include canola and crude oil. Ontario’s top exports to Manitoba are household goods, food and drinks, officials said.

The memorandum said the two sides will hammer out a deal on direct-to-consumer alcohol sales by June 30.

Ford said it is unlikely a national framework on alcohol sold directly to consumers will come together quickly, so he will continue with bilateral deals with all willing provinces and territories.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could go right across the country?” Ford said.

“You know, it’s a shame that people in B.C. can’t ship a bottle of wine or we can’t ship it over to them.”

The premiers are set to meet with Carney on June 2 in Saskatoon, where Ford said he hopes to sign a similar deal with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and, possibly, with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

Kinew said he hopes to put politics aside at the upcoming meeting.

“I think if we sit around and talk politics, there’s always going to be disagreement,” he said.

“But if we get to work and do the actual job of putting shovels into ground and building some of these trade corridors, putting people to work, that’s how we bring every region of the country together.”