Latest news with #NewWestPartnershipTradeAgreement
Global News
17-07-2025
- Business
- Global News
Moe to urge premiers to join New West Partnership Trade Agreement
Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe is expected to urge his provincial counterparts to join the New West Partnership Trade Agreement on Thursday. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Moe will be speaking in Saskatoon, making an announcement that's anticipated to focus on strengthening internal trade and promoting economic cooperation across provinces. The premier is expected to begin delivering his remarks at 11:00 a.m. local time. You can watch the event live at the top of this story.
Hamilton Spectator
09-06-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Saskatchewan and Ontario remove trade barriers
While premiers met in Saskatoon last week, an agreement between Saskatchewan and Ontario to break down trade barriers was announced. Putting ink to paper, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Ontario Premier Doug Ford signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the two provinces to work on getting rid of roadblocks between the two provinces. 'Saskatchewan has long been a leader in reducing trade barriers,' said Trade and Export Minister Warren Kaeding. 'This MOU is the progress on internal trade that our country needs to remain competitive and resilient.' He explained that the two provinces will work together to improve the flow of goods, services, and labour mobility; recognize the importance of strengthening public safety and the integrity and role of our Crown corporations; and advance direct to consumer alcohol sales while working with other willing jurisdictions to do the same. 'We continue to see success in internal trade through our participation in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) and the New West Partnership Trade Agreement with British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba,' Kaeding said. According to statistics from 2021, total interprovincial trade between the two provinces amounted to $6.4 billion. 'Now is the time to take strong action to strengthen trade across Canada,' noted Moe. 'Our province remains committed to removing restrictive barriers that limit the flow of trade. Today's MOU between Saskatchewan and Ontario is just one of the ways we are unlocking the infinite potential that exists within our industries from coast to coast.' Trade makes up around 70 per cent of Saskatchewan's Gross Domestic Product, with the recent signing of the MOU seen as providing more stability when actions south of the border threaten change at a whim. 'With President Trump taking direct aim at Canada's economy, we need to do everything we can to protect Ontario and Canadian workers by super-charging our own internal trade opportunities,' Ford said. 'With both of us coming together today, we are helping Canada unlock up to $200 billion in gains for our economy, and we are showing everyone how all of us premiers are standing up for Canada like never before. Together, we are building a more competitive, more resilient and more self-reliant economy.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Winnipeg Free Press
06-06-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Nurse college must be able to pivot: health minister
Manitoba's health minister says the regulatory body for nursing is blocking internationally educated nurses who want to practise in the province and driving them away. 'What we're hearing from nurses — not just IENs but across the board — is that the college continues to be a barrier to nurses successfully joining the front lines and they're leaving Manitoba as a result, or not considering Manitoba as an option,' Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said late Thursday. The health minister was defending their directive that the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba stop requiring 'labour mobility applicants' have 450 hours of nursing experience in Canada over the past two years or 1,225 hours over the past five years. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara: 'If Manitoba wants to be competitive in the health care staffing market, we have to be willing to adapt and evolve.' In 2022, the Progressive Conservative government directed the college to stop requiring out-of-province applicants have recent Canadian experience. The college said it then tracked a significant increase in complaints about nursing incompetence linked to labour mobility applicants, and that two patients have died as a result. It cited complaints about a lack of nursing knowledge, skill and judgment, the inability to take or interpret vital signs, perform a health assessment, safely administer medication or prioritize patient care. In December, the college reinstated the requirement for nurses to have recent Canadian experience. Asagwara ordered the college to stop, saying it was breaking internal trade laws, including the Canadian Free Trade Agreement and the New West Partnership Trade Agreement's labour mobility rules, and legislation requiring regulated professions to ensure their registration practices comply with obligations of a domestic trade agreement. College registrar Deb Elias said Wednesday the province is putting labour mobility and its support for interprovincial free trade ahead of patient safety and lives. The health minister — who is also a registered psychiatric nurse — said the college's complaints have been taken 'very seriously'and 'immediate steps' were taken to keep patients safe. The province is working with regional health authorities and employers to make sure there are pathways for internationally educated nurses to get more support or resources so they can succeed as a nurse or elsewhere on the front line, said Asagwara. The minister said the college is also rejecting qualified nurses. 'We've heard from a number of nurses in the U.S., nurse academics, federal nurses who've been trying to get licensed in Manitoba to practise in nursing stations. We've heard of cases where nurses who practised in Manitoba for over 30 years — in one case, a nurse who practised for 35 years and was short one hour in her recency was denied a licence to return to the front lines as a recently retired nurse.' Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Asagwara said the health department's recruitment and retention office is triaging 'literally dozens of nurses who've come to us because they have not been supported by the college.' The minister said Manitoba has to be able to pivot. 'We have to be able to evolve. The college, I know, has historically been unwilling to do so. That's not the landscape of health care in Canada anymore,' Asagawara said. 'If Manitoba wants to be competitive in the health care staffing market, we have to be willing to adapt and evolve and meet the growing needs and economic realities.' Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
05-06-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Relaxed nursing requirements jeopardize patient safety, Manitoba regulator warns health minister
The College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba says the province is putting labour mobility and its support for interprovincial free trade ahead of patient safety and lives. Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara ordered the college to stop requiring that 'labour mobility applicants' — nurses recently licensed in other provinces who applied to nurse in Manitoba — must have 450 hours of nursing experience in Canada in the past two years or 1,225 hours in the past five years. The minister told the college in an April 30 letter that it was breaking internal trade laws, including the Canadian Free Trade Agreement and the New West Partnership Trade Agreement's labour mobility rules, and legislation requiring regulated professions to ensure their registration practices comply with obligations of a domestic trade agreement. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Deb Elias, of the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, centre, and Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, right, want tighter restrictions on incoming nurses. Asagwara's letter said no jurisdictions in Canada have approved labour mobility exceptions for registered nurses, and directed the college to drop its 'currency of practice' requirement within 30 days. With no avenue to appeal the minister's order, the college spoke out Wednesday, saying patients are at risk and that two have died as the result of Manitoba not requiring labour mobility applicants recently licensed out of province to have current Canadian nursing experience. College registrar Deb Elias said she can't provide details of the two preventable deaths reported in November because those cases are going through the college's professional conduct process. One of the nurses surrendered their licence voluntarily and the other was suspended, the college confirmed. It said it has seen a significant increase in complaints about nursing incompetence linked to the labour mobility applicants, such as a lack of nursing knowledge, skill and judgment, the inability to take or interpret vital signs, perform a health assessment, safely administer medication or prioritize patient care. That occurred after the college was told by former Tory health minister Audrey Gordon in 2022 not to demand that out-of-province nurses have current hours of Canadian practice under their belt. 'We stopped that practice and then monitored it for a period of time,' Elias said. 'At the end of last year, 2024, we were very alarmed at the trend that we saw, with a substantial increase in complaints and the significant, gross nursing incompetence that we were seeing.' In 2023, the cohort accounted for 15 per cent of practice-related complaints despite representing a much smaller number of the total number of registered nurses. In 2024, the same group of nurses lacking current Canadian experience accounted for 50 per cent (27 of 54) of the complaints. In December, the college notified Asagwara that it was reverting back to its policy of requiring nurses have Canadian experience. Manitoba, which is dealing with a critical health-care staffing shortage is competing with other jurisdictions to recruit professionals. At the same time, it's also committed to interprovincial free trade and removing barriers to labour mobility throughout Canada in response to a trade war launched by the U.S. Asagwara did not respond to repeated requests for comment Wednesday. Elias said the college will keep talking to the health minister and the Health Department about its concerns and look for alternate solutions. 'We absolutely support labour mobility and welcome nurses and (nurse practitioners) from across the country. But we also want to uphold patient safety. That is our mandate. And we know that these two things can happen,' she said. 'What we're talking about here is, really, a group of nurses who've obtained registration elsewhere but haven't practised in recent years, so aren't up to date.'–Deb Elias 'What we're talking about here is, really, a group of nurses who've obtained registration elsewhere but haven't practised in recent years, so aren't up to date, and that we're working to resolve it. 'Once people are registered, they can work anywhere, and that is really part of our concern. The public should be concerned, but they should also know that the vast majority of registered nurses on our register have met all the standards, maintain currency and are required to do professional development.' Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said more nurses are desperately needed, but only if they're trained and can do the job. 'What I'm hearing from nurses is that this is absolutely unfair to these nurses that are coming in because they are not prepared properly for our health-care system,' Jackson said Wednesday. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. 'There's no ability for them to prepare properly because there's no way for the college to assess to see if they need that preparation.' She said the situation is difficult for for nurses working alongside the recent additions. 'You're not only doing your own job, but you are continuously trying to ensure that these nurses are supported and, through no fault of their own, doing what they need to be doing,' she said. 'I think it's in the best interest of the public to allow the college to do what they need to do to follow their mandate to ensure that Manitoba nurses, everyone practising in the Manitoba system as a nurse, is practising safely.' Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
National Observer
02-06-2025
- Business
- National Observer
Ontario reaches trade deals with Saskatchewan and Alberta ahead of meeting with Carney
Alberta and Saskatchewan signed agreements with Ontario on Sunday to remove trade barriers ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney to hash out a plan they hope will supercharge the economy. The memorandum of understanding between Saskatchewan and Ontario sees both provinces mutually recognize each other's goods, workers and investment, while a statement from the Alberta government says its MOU with Ontario aims to improve the free flow of goods and services between the two provinces. The Alberta statement also says the agreement will simplify requirements for regulated professions such as skilled trades, making it easier for professionals to work across provincial boundaries. Both deals, which were signed in Saskatoon ahead of a first ministers meeting in the city Monday, pledge to advance measures that would see willing provinces allow the sale of alcohol directly to consumers. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the deals help grow provincial economies as US President Donald Trump threatens more tariffs on Canadian steel. "We're going to band together," Ford said when talking about the agreement with Saskatchewan. "We've never been attacked by any leader in the world like we have by President Trump. He doesn't give two hoots about Canada." "(But) he's going to have a rude awakening. We're going to fight like we've never fought before." It's Ford's latest deals with provinces to open trade, measures he says could unlock $200 billion in economic gains. Alberta said its agreement with Ontario also welcomes the possibility of Ontario joining the New West Partnership Trade Agreement, which has worked to streamline regulations and standards across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. "It's time to stop letting outdated rules hold us back and show Canadians what real economic leadership looks like,' Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a news release Sunday. The premiers are meeting Monday with Carney to discuss major nation-building projects that could boost the economy. Ford said the prime minister needs to remove regulations to make it easier to build projects. That includes scrapping the Impact Assessment Act, he said. "It all depends on the speed right now (in getting projects built)," Ford said. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said he's hoping for a port-to-port corridor in Western Canada to ship more goods out of northern BC and Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba. "It's the largest single opportunity that I've seen in my lifetime," Moe said. "All we need to do is come together, and then stand by side by side and defend the opportunities we have from a trade perspective. Defend them like hell." Building more oil and gas pipelines must be part of Canada's future, Moe added. "If we truly are going to become the strongest economy in the G7 nations, if we truly are going to become a global energy superpower, it means we need to open up the opportunity for all of our industries," Moe said. "I think (Carney) is aware that there's a feeling of alienation in certain areas of the nation." Both Alberta and Saskatchewan have long had grievances with former prime minister Justin Trudeau, who they say made it difficult for the industry to build energy projects. Smith has said more pipelines are the only way to get more products to market efficiently and without one, there could be a national unity crisis. She has called on Carney to scrap the oil and gas emissions cap and clean electricity regulations, repeal industrial carbon pricing and overhaul regulations. But getting a pipeline through Quebec might be difficult. The province had opposed the former Energy East oil pipeline from Alberta and rejected the GNL Quebec project in Saguenay in 2021. However, Quebec Premier François Legault said last month he's open to some projects. Ford said all provinces must be on the same page for any pipeline to move forward. "I hope (Legault) is going to bring a pipeline through," he said. "Last time I checked, Quebecers drive cars, they need gas."
