The Council replies: Letters to the editor
Bulldozing democracy?

By Stuart Trew
The Globe and Mail
January 19, 2008

Ottawa -- It is incredible to suggest that interprovincial trade barriers in Canada are "extensive" simply because the government hasn't bothered to count them (How To Bulldoze A Wall - editorial, Jan. 18). Actually, there is no official list because no one seems to know what, if any, real barriers to trade exist between the provinces. And even conservative think tanks such as the C. D. Howe Institute admit that many of the "petty protections" you claim cost the economy $3-billion a year are actually legitimate regulatory differences between unique communities.

The Alberta-B.C. solution to the "problem" of interprovincial trade barriers was to strip communities of the freedom to make unique rules by allowing corporations to challenge almost any government measure that interferes with profits. In other words, the solution is worse than the problem. That's not bulldozing a wall - that's more like bulldozing democracy.

Stuart Trew, Researcher, The Council of Canadians