I gather that these kinds of barriers have likely been up for a very long time, long before I was old enough to really understand them.
So here I am at 48 years old trying to wrap my brain around why there were internal trade barriers in the first place. What reasons were given when they were first put up?
There are four categories of trade barriers in Canada: natural barriers such as geography, prohibitive barriers such as restrictions on the sale of alcohol, technical barriers such as vehicle weight standards and regulatory barriers such as licensing and paperwork requirements.
The 2017 CFTA was intended to cut down on some of these barriers, but all provinces and territories negotiated exemptions for various reasons, ranging from different safety regulations across provinces, to different language requirements, to industry protectionism.
It’s not clear right now which barriers the feds can unilaterally eliminate (and whether we agree with all of them), but I guess we’ll find out within the next week or so.
Yup. An example would be tractor trailer loads, ie: in Saskatchewan a tractor can legally pull 3 trailers … in BC that’s impossible because of the Rockies. There’s also the issue of tire chains: in BC it’s manditory for some highways (incl tractors) and on others it’s not. Chains in the prairies just don’t make sense, and they chew up the asphalt something fierce.
It’ll take a while to sort out what’s OK and what’s not.
Even for that example, there’s the issue of maximum height as well. Different provinces have different standards for clearance, which is why every once in a while you hear about a truck that strikes a bridge or other underpass.
I gather that these kinds of barriers have likely been up for a very long time, long before I was old enough to really understand them.
So here I am at 48 years old trying to wrap my brain around why there were internal trade barriers in the first place. What reasons were given when they were first put up?
Please explain it as you would a child…
This was a decent explainer. In a nutshell…
There are four categories of trade barriers in Canada: natural barriers such as geography, prohibitive barriers such as restrictions on the sale of alcohol, technical barriers such as vehicle weight standards and regulatory barriers such as licensing and paperwork requirements.
The 2017 CFTA was intended to cut down on some of these barriers, but all provinces and territories negotiated exemptions for various reasons, ranging from different safety regulations across provinces, to different language requirements, to industry protectionism.
It’s not clear right now which barriers the feds can unilaterally eliminate (and whether we agree with all of them), but I guess we’ll find out within the next week or so.
Thanks!
So basically a question of natural barriers and I guess you could call it “standardization”; different provinces having different rules.
Pretty much. There’s a strong argument that “eliminating barriers” may be synonymous with “deregulation,” which…could go badly.
Yup. An example would be tractor trailer loads, ie: in Saskatchewan a tractor can legally pull 3 trailers … in BC that’s impossible because of the Rockies. There’s also the issue of tire chains: in BC it’s manditory for some highways (incl tractors) and on others it’s not. Chains in the prairies just don’t make sense, and they chew up the asphalt something fierce.
It’ll take a while to sort out what’s OK and what’s not.
Even for that example, there’s the issue of maximum height as well. Different provinces have different standards for clearance, which is why every once in a while you hear about a truck that strikes a bridge or other underpass.
here’s one (biased) take https://breachmedia.ca/freakout-about-canadas-internal-trade-barriers-a-corporate-scam/
makes some good points about how some barriers prevent a race to the bottom and allow provinces to take actions protecting their workers and industry