Preferential treatment for northerners key for trade zone between territories: N.W.T. premier

CBC

4 days ago

The N.W.T.'s premier says an eventual trade zone between Canada's three territories will ideally make sure northerners benefit from economic activity in the North.
The three territorial premiers announced Tuesday that they had signed a memorandum of understanding to create a territorial trade zone.
In a joint news release, Yukon Premier Mike Pemberton, N.W.T. Premier R.J. Simpson and Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok said the memorandum — which is non-binding — would help improve both the economy across the North and labour mobility, and would include a shared credential registry so workers can more more freely between the territories. It was signed in Huntsville, Ont., last week when the premiers were attending a three-day meeting of the Council of the Federation.
In an interview with CBC, Simpson said territory-and province-specific laws about goods and services are inefficient and "costing our economy money." He added efforts to break down those barriers in the North have to be tempered by other considerations, though.
"What we don't want to do is drop all of our trade barriers and become, essentially, a colony for the South again, where companies from southern Canada would come up here, extract resources and then leave and not leave anything in the territory," he said.
"We want to be able to give preferential treatment to northern businesses to ensure that there's benefits for northerners when there is activity in the North."
The agreement also allows the northern governments to co-ordinate efforts to lobby the federal government and the private sector for investment.
Tuesday's news release mentioned that any agreement must respect land claims agreements and other deals governments have made with Indigenous nations and organizations, along with actively supporting Indigenous participation in the economy.
CBC News has requested an interview with Pemberton, whose office first announced the deal on Monday. Akeeagok was not made available for an interview prior to publication.
Cautious optimism among industry
The deal is still in its early stages.
Simpson said he doesn't expect N.W.T residents to see any immediate impacts from this, saying "it's more of a longer-term vision."
In Nunavut, Tony Rose, the executive director of the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce, said it's too soon to speculate on the potential impacts, but that the organization will be getting input from its members about the proposed trade zone.
"This is a very interesting time for this to be happening, because there's a brand new government coming in the fall," Rose said, referencing Nunavut's upcoming territorial election.
"For us, this represents a really interesting opportunity to communicate with that incoming government to discuss the priorities of businesses, both within the Baffin region and throughout the rest of the territory."
The Yukon will also be having a territorial election this fall.
This theme of cautious optimism was echoed by at least two companies that have a major presence in the North. In respective statements, Agnico Eagle Mines said they "welcome regulatory reform that can help streamline processes and support a stronger Canadian economy," while Northwestel said the trade zone "is a positive step for private businesses operating across all three territories."
Both of them added that they would be following any developments before commenting further.
The memorandum comes amid national economic uncertainty, as the federal government continues to negotiate a new trade deal with the United States under the threat of more tariffs. The deadline before tariffs kick in automatically is this Friday.