James Moore is a former federal cabinet minister and a columnist for CTVNews.ca.
As is appropriate, election campaigns are about differences and divisions. Wedging your opponents against the voting cohorts they are seeking, pointing out their flaws and inadequacies, and dragging them into policy fights that are accretive to you politically with the groups of voters you aspire mobilize. That is politics; that is campaigning.
Wading past the torqued divisions, however, lay a host of policy issues around which there can be a consensus. And, in this campaign, in this moment of a need for an economic realignment to counter the sabotage of President Trump, a handful of issues have emerged with none as clear as the often-heard comment that “we need to break down our internal barriers to trade.”
Here, for example, is a compelling argument:
“Canadians expect all political leaders to do what it takes to make our country more self-reliant, less dependent on the Americans, and it starts with trade at home.”
“Canada is a free-trading nation; however, progress on internal trade has not kept up with our success with international trade agreements and we must bring Canada together.”
“The free movement of goods, services, people and investment within Canada is essential to our country’s economic health.”
“Removing barriers to internal trade would lower prices for consumers by reducing trade costs by up to 15%1 and expand our economy by up to $200 billion or 4-8% over the long-term, equivalent to a gain of $3,000-$5,000 for every Canadian.”
The first sentence of this argument was spoken by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre; the second sentence was by me in 2014 when I was Canada’s Minister of Industry; the third sentence was offered by former Liberal Industry and Finance Minister John Manley; and the fourth sentence was spoken by Prime Minister Carney last week.
So we have alignment in spirit, word, and intent. And, we have the momentum of broad public support across the country, we have economic common sense, and we have an opportunity for nation building and the catalyst of protecting Canadians from some of the economic consequences of Donald Trump.
Four things the next government should do
So how do we land this plane? How do we avoid squandering this moment and instead seize this moment of opportunity for Canada?
Well, I have some thoughts. As a former Minister of Industry, who, about a decade ago, saw a different window of opportunity and tried to modernize our internal trade system, I have some advice for the next government.
First, broadcast/stream the negotiations and process. Transparency is due and accountability is demanded on this issue. Canadians deserve to know what is being said, who lives up to their word and who doesn’t, and they should know what honest divisions may exist across the country and help pressure for constructive remedies.
Second, demand the direct engagement of Canada’s premiers. As I experienced in my efforts to liberalize trade within Canada, I worked with a fantastic group of provincial colleagues who were all enthusiastic and sincere, but they were not the ultimate decision makers on these potentially tectonic changes with deeper political impacts in their regions.
Premiers lead their governments; they must commit to the process and must invest their political capital and time to understand the issues and get to a successful outcome. No ministers in place of the premiers, no deputy ministers or chiefs of staff or surrogates of any kind. Total ownership of the file by the premiers should be the expectation.
Third, start fresh. A brand new, pan-Canadian agreement should begin with the default assumption in favour of the free movement of all goods and services, labour mobility, government procurement and so on, across the country, without exception. The Government of Canada has traditionally used this approach when entering free trade negotiations – either bilateral or multilateral – throughout the years. This would cause governments to be transparent about any new proposed exemptions they might seek as an alternative to the open commerce between Canadians. And, in doing so, be held accountable by the public in an open and transparent process.
Fourth, the final agreement needs to have meaningful enforcement mechanisms and a quick adjudication of disputes. This is the stickiest challenge of them all. Provinces must be prepared to surrender some authority and jurisdictional sovereignty to an adjudication body and process and yield to the findings of that process. Without this, the entire effort will lose credibility.
It is great to hear everyone seemingly aligned on the goal of defeating internal barriers to trade, and there could be some easy incremental wins on a handful of sectors if that is the limit of our ambitions. But Canadians deserve leaders with more enthusiasm and aspiration to counter the consequences of Americans electing and tolerating Donald Trump’s attacks on Canada. I wish our next government well in this moment of extraordinary opportunity.
James Moore is a public policy advisor at the global firm Edelman and a corporate director. He previously served as Canada’s Minister of Industry, Minister of Canadian Heritage & Official Languages and Secretary of State for the Asia Pacific Gateway and Minister for the 2010 Olympics under Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a 5-term, 15-year career as a Member of Parliament.
