It hasn’t been the best year for Canadian federalism.
For months the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline saga has dominated the news, with no end in sight. B.C. Premier John Horgan’s insistence on hurting another province’s, and indeed Canada’s, economic future has led to a Constitutional crisis. Kinder Morgan has opted to seek assurances before moving forward on the project.
In response Alberta has ratcheted up the rhetoric on its neighbouring province by legislating the threat of a restriction on the flow of oil and gas from Alberta.
Hopefully this dispute won’t require that action and B.C. will do the right thing for the country and get out of the way of a pipeline that has already won federal approval.
Ultimately this type of trade dispute between provinces has no winner and the two provinces will simply inflict economic pain on each other without any benefit of their own.
The very idea of Canada should prevent this type of action, especially when it comes to infrastructure that is in the national interest.
One can only imagine what the country would be like if provinces had vowed to stand in the way of projects like the railway or the Trans-Canada Highway.
But Trans Mountain is hardly the only example of this. When the Energy East pipeline was killed, it was hard for politicians from Quebec to hide their glee, despite the obvious direct economic benefits to many provinces.
The old spirit of Canadian cooperation is becoming extinct in favour of provinces looking out for themselves.
Political self-preservation has driven this pipeline battle, including at the federal level. With a federal election next year and 18 Liberal MPs in B.C., Prime Minister Trudeau is hesitant to rock the boat, even though this dispute needs strong leadership and pipelines are federal jurisdiction.
Just this week the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that provinces can enforce trade barriers as long as they only have an incidental effect on trade.
The ruling came after a New Brunswick man was fined after buying beer in Quebec and bringing it into New Brunswick. The Supreme Court decided that Canada’s constitution simply does not allow absolute free trade across Canada despite section 121 of the Constitution Act, which states: “All Articles of the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of any one of the Provinces shall, from and after the Union, be admitted free into each of the other Provinces.”
Rather than take an opportunity to strike down a protectionist policy, the Supreme Court opted to reinforce it. Who is actually protected by such rules? It’s not the citizens of Canada and it’s not businesses either – it’s provincial governments.
It’s obvious that the Supreme Court was afraid of having a precedent on other provincial barriers or supply management systems, but they aren’t all worth protecting. There are many examples of companies finding it easier to do business in another country than another province. That needs to stop.
Just as Canadians have freedom of movement, so too should Canadian products – including our natural resources. As the old adage says, “united we stand, divided we fall.”
- reprinted for St. Albert Gazette, a Great West newspaper
