Moe, Ford discuss internal trade, carbon tax

October 30, 2018, 1:01 pm

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is in Toronto today for meetings with the Canada-India Business Council ahead of his mission to India in late November, and to discuss inter-provincial trade with Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

While in Toronto, Premier Moe will also be delivering a keynote speech at the Canada-India Business Council Diwali Gala.

Moe placed a focus on international trade while in Toronto ahead of his mission to India. Moe met with members of the Canada-India Business Council in Toronto. This included a roundtable with a number of executives that hold significant interests in both Canadian and Indian markets, as well as a keynote speech on Monday evening that Moe will be delivering to the Canada-India Business Council Diwali Gala, an event that will draw leading Canadian and Indian business figures.

“India is a significant trade and export destination for a number of Saskatchewan’s key industries,” Moe said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to hear from business and industry representatives about the opportunities and challenges that exist in the Canadian trade relationship with India.”

In 2017, Saskatchewan was Canada’s top exporter to India, and India represented Saskatchewan’s third largest export market with a significant trade relationship that grew in value by 15 per cent between 2013 and 2017.

While at Queen's Park in Toronto, Premiers Moe and Ford touched on their shared opposition to the federal government’s plan to impose a massive job-killing carbon tax on Ontario and Saskatchewan families and businesses.

Ford and Moe also discussed their shared commitment to reducing interprovincial trade barriers.

The two premiers announced a Memorandum of Understanding to begin discussions on lowering interprovincial barriers.

“Saskatchewan and Ontario stand united in our fight against the carbon tax,” Moe said. “We also stand united in acknowledging the importance of the trade relationship between our provinces, and I am pleased to join Premier Ford to discuss how we can continue lowering interprovincial trade barriers.”
 
“This is what being ‘open for business’ is all about,” Ford said.

“While the federal government dreams up new ways to tax you, we’re thinking about new ways to create jobs. I am so proud to have a partner like Premier Moe work with us to make new jobs, new investment and new growth a reality in both provinces. We’re going to lead where Ottawa has failed and begin bilateral discussions to knock down our own interprovincial trade barriers. I look forward to working with other provinces to bring these trade barriers down.”

According to a just-released report, Sizing Up Provincial Trade Barriers, from BMO Capital Markets, the impact from free interprovincial trade would cumulate over a decade to add as much as two per cent to national GDP, or nearly $50 billion in total. For Ontario alone, the net positive addition to output would build to a range of $15-$20 billion.