Now that we’re talking trade, it works be a good time to address Canada’s internal trade barriers:
“Let’s sit down and come up with a list, because everyone wants to protect something – no matter if it’s the dairy cow in Newfoundland, or the wine in B.C., or ourselves – everyone’s guilty,” he added.
Consumers are confronted by these roadblocks every day. A craft brewery in Quebec can’t sell its beer directly to a nearby restaurant in Ottawa. An engineer in New Brunswick has to get licensed in neighbouring Nova Scotia before practising there. A truck driver in British Columbia can only drive certain truck configurations at night but must do so during the day in Alberta – leaving a narrower time frame to make an interprovincial trek.
Taken together, these barriers are constraining Canada’s economic potential. Research shows that tearing them down would give the economy a sizable boost – perhaps enough to offset the hit from steep U.S. tariffs.
It’s “funny” because people have been decrying these barriers since the 1990s. It’d be amazing if we actually saw progress, but I’m not optimistic.
It’s never too late to do good.
You know, for all his faults, I watched Trudeaux’ press conference where he announced the counter-tariffs. I almost never watch Canadian news, but I did this once. And I was really pleasantly surprised to hear him and the journalists switch from English to French and back to English seamlessly and without drama.
I’m old enough to remember when the two linguistic communities were almost at each other’s throats, and the Quebec referendum and all that. Today’s Trudeaux performance seemed peaceful and natural.
If that can happen, other things can happen too. If Trump catalyzes good things in Canada, then Trump will have done something good in his life, against all odds.
No disrespect meant but,
How old are you? I was born in Canada right around the 2nd Quebec referendum and I have always heard the politicians at both the Federal and Provincial levels speak in English and French whenever I tune into the news.
It’s Trudeau*, we’ve already had one in the 80s…
I’m 55. And sorry about misspelling Trudeau, I’m not Canadian 🙂
But I do know a few things about Canada because I happened to live in France during the second Quebec referendum - and France was all abuzz with this, like it mattered to the French for some reason - and also I lived in Toronto from 2002 to 2004.
I’m still mildly interested in Canadian affairs because I really enjoyed my time there (and almost relocated there too) and now that Canada’s troublesome southern neighbor is being aggressive and stupid again, I’m paying closer attention. Hence my watching the entire Trudeau intervention earlier today.
I’m sorry, I thought you were Canadian! Truly, no disrespect intended, apologies if it came across that way. Not many people know about the referendum (either of them) outside of the country, but the France being obsessed with their former colony makes sense lol.
I was just mostly curious as to what the Franco vs Anglo Canadian landscape was before I was born, I have always known the somewhat bilingual landscape we live in now.
Yeah it’s always been bilingual of course, but the relationships between the two communities seemed a lot more tense than they are now.
Think of it back then as Belgium today between the French-speaking and Dutch-speaking regions, if you know anything about that country: sure it’s multiingual - mostly in the Dutch-speaking north and German-speaking east - but be careful in what language you open your trap in which part of the country because you might find yourself very poorly received, to say the least.
I felt that in Canada in the beginning of the naughties when I visited Montreal: I wasn’t well received when I spoke English (sadly with a North American accent) and I wasn’t received any better when I switched to French with a French accent 🙂
The Trudeau bit I watched earlier carried no such stupid undertone, which felt great.
Trudeaux must be the plural form…
Far too many people fail to watch the news about our own country.
Not staying informed about what’s happening in our own country is part of the problems we have with divisiveness.
O think the problem is that more and more people distrust traditional media
That is (happily) common in Canadian politics. Bilingual politicians are happy to reach a larger audience, just as journalists prefer to have quotes in their target language.
Definitely. It’s incumbent on us to make that happen, though. Politicians haven’t prioritized it for the last fifty years - they’ll only do it if they receive pressure.