Interprovincial trade barriers cost the Canadian economy $130 billion dollars a year according to a report from a Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. The report was entitled “Tear Down These Walls”.
David Chaundy, a senior economist with the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, talks about one restaurant owner who wanted to offer a specialised menu across the Maritimes but couldn’t because the wine and beer he wanted to offer wasn’t listed by all of the Liquor boards in the region.
Chaundy says progress has been made in harmonising regulations in the Maritimes.
The Senate report suggests international free trade agreements have made it easier for foreign companies to do business in Canada than for domestic firms in one province to do business in another.
