'It surprises us': European ambassadors question Canada's internal trade barriers
European ambassadors discussing the upcoming G7 summit in Kananaskis on Friday took issue with Canada's interprovincial trade barriers and its shortcomings in export infrastructure.
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In a panel discussion in downtown Calgary, Germany's ambassador to Canada and his European Union counterpart noted the free flow of trade between their countries and said it contrasted with internal roadblocks in Canada.
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'It surprises us you have all these interprovincial barriers,' Matthius Luttenberg, Germany's ambassador to Canada told the forum organized by the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy and the Canada West Foundation.
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'In Canada it seems sometimes these borders seem much higher than they need to be and of course it's not up to me to give good advice about how to deal with them,' he said.
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'I understand the reasons these barriers are there but I wish the prime minister (Carney) and his government the best of luck to overcome these barriers because I see there are a lot of transactional costs which are still there and maybe (eased internal trade) would even enable the export from Alberta to the Atlantic in a much easier and faster way.'
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'Alberta is a rich province, you have everything here, what's missing is pipelines,' said Genevieve Tuts.
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'We need to diversify to reduce our dependence on Russian natural gas.'
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Canada's export and internal trade limitations have gained renewed focus with U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war and his talk of annexing Canada.
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