Premiers need to ‘put up or shut up' on internal trade at first ministers' meeting: Jason Kenney

CTV News

4 days ago

Former premiers Jason Kenney and Kathleen Wynne weigh in on trade with the U.S. and what Canada should be focusing on.
Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney says the provinces and territories need to maintain the momentum spurred by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war and make quicker progress on eliminating interprovincial trade barriers.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet with all of Canada's premiers on Monday, with interprovincial trade — and his promise to eliminate barriers to that trade by Canada Day — on the agenda.
During a panel interview with former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne for CTV's Question Period, Kenney said while he has 'a bit of skepticism' based on his previous experience trying to negotiate internal trade, he's hopeful.
'It's time for the premiers to put up or shut up,' Kenney told host Vassy Kapelos. 'This is, again, the time to be bold.'
'We had a sense of real urgency about 10 weeks ago because of the Trump threats,' Kenney added. 'Let's not lose that. Let's grasp this opportunity. Let's not waste a good crisis.'
Repeatedly stating the longstanding Canada-U.S. relationship is 'over,' in the face of Trump's sweeping global tariffs, Carney vowed during the election campaign to diversify Canada's trading partners and 'create one Canadian economy out of 13.'
Kenney said Monday's meeting has the potential to be 'hugely' significant, especially considering Carney 'has inflated expectations to sky-high levels.'
He said while he's hopeful progress could come from the gathering, he also worries the prime minister could be 'setting himself up for great disappointment.' The former premier pointed to his previous efforts to 'create some momentum' on eliminating interprovincial trade barriers, but adding 'virtually no one followed suit.'
'Every premier is going to come with their own shopping list,' Kenney said, adding meetings between the prime minister and the premiers 'often devolve into what I call, derisively, begging-bowl federalism.'
'I hope they think in the national interest, they see the big strategic imperative to expand our economy, turn around the decline in productivity, expand our export markets,' Kenney said. 'This isn't an opportunity to go in front of the prime minister and just pitch for that highway you've been trying to finance or that new hospital you want to build.'
Wynne said she thinks much of the provincial jockeying in service of regional self-interests will be put on pause for the sake of the national interest.
The former Ontario premier added she doesn't think Carney will put up with the 'begging-bowl scenario,' which she called 'kind of a harsh version of it.'
'I think that he is going to be extremely clear about what the agenda has to be,' Wynne said. 'All the premiers have got their priorities, they've laid out their priorities. They're not going to get everything.'
'So, my hope is that there will be some clarity around at least what the plan is going forward,' she added.
Some provinces have been taking action to remove some internal trade barriers, including New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt pushing for an Atlantic Canada free-trade zone.
Ontario and Prince Edward Island are also working with Nova Scotia to introduce reciprocal legislation with the aim of eliminating internal trade barriers.
And, on Friday, the Quebec government tabled what the province's economy minister called an 'ambitious' bill, which would help open the province's borders to products from other regions.
Despite this, several sticking points remain in place and many interprovincial trade barriers continue to exist, such as geographic restrictions on the sale of certain goods, regulatory and policy differences across jurisdictions, and hurdles to labour mobility.