Liberals table bill to speed up project approval, remove interprovincial trade barriers

The Liberal government introduced legislation Friday aimed at cutting down barriers to internal trade by recognizing provincial and territorial rules at the federal level.

Dominic LeBlanc, the Intergovernmental Affairs Minister, tabled the One Canadian Economy Act (Bill C-5) at the House of Commons, which would give Ottawa the authority to draw up a list of large projects it wants to prioritize, and speed up their federal approval.

The One Canadian Economy Act will enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act, and the Building Canada Act.

Prime Minister Mark Carney met with the country’s premiers Monday in Saskatoon, to look at ways to reshape Canada’s economy.

The prime minister was looking to the premiers for lists of projects that would boost the economy and jobs across the country – working as one national economy instead of 13 provincial-territorial economies.

Before that meeting started, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was signing agreements with Saskatchewan, Alberta and Prince Edward Island to remove interprovincial trade barriers in order to stand up to Donald Trump and his tariffs.

Carney promised to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers by Canada Day.

The legislation is also aligning with efforts from provinces and territories to reduce the number of redundant standards across the country.

For example, a company that produces washing machines that meet a provincial energy efficiency standard won’t have to meet a separate federal standard to sell outside the province.

The bill also looks to recognize provincial and territorial licensing and certification for some workers, so that someone licensed to work in one province is assumed to be licensed at the federal level.

The act plans to build on the country’s trucking sector project, which launched in September, to work with officials to rapidly expand work and efficiency across the sector.

The federal government says that, so far, it has removed almost 70 per cent of the exceptions it has imposed on the Canadian Free Trade Agreement.

With files from The Canadian Press.

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