Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee of Ministers on Internal Trade

OTTAWA, December 6, 2004 — Federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for internal trade met today in Ottawa. The Committee on Internal Trade (the Committee) meeting, co-chaired by the Honourable Percy Mockler, New Brunswick Minister of Intergovernmental and International Relations, and the Honourable David L. Emerson, federal Minister of Industry, set the tone for a new era in government cooperation focused on the internal Canadian marketplace. The Committee is responsible for the Agreement on Internal Trade (the Agreement), which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.

          The meeting marked a renewed commitment for federal-provincial-territorial cooperation on internal trade, and builds upon the substantial progress achieved this year under the Premiers’ Council of the Federation’s Workplan on Internal Trade. Ministers have taken concrete action to strengthen the Agreement. Domestic trade in Canada amounts to $244 billion in economic activity, highlighting the importance of efforts to remove the remaining barriers to trade between jurisdictions.

          Ministers agreed to increase coverage of Crown corporation procurement, valued in the billions of dollars, under the Agreement promoting transparency in tendering and the equal treatment of suppliers across the country. Ministers also agreed on a series of governance measures to facilitate decision-making under the Agreement and to strengthen its dispute settlement provisions. Parties to the Agreement stated their commitment to advance the Council’s comprehensive, forward-looking work plan to address initiatives related to labour mobility, agriculture, energy and areas not fully covered by the AIT, including other challenges to internal trade. Federal-provincial-territorial working groups are currently working on these issues.

           “Progress has been clearly achieved under the guidance of the Council of the Federation,” said Minister Mockler. “I would like to thank my colleagues across the country for their teamwork and commitment to the various initiatives to improve the mobility of persons, goods, services and investments across Canada.”

           “The Government of Canada is pleased to join the provinces and territories in their renewed commitment to removing internal trade barriers. It augurs well for strengthening the economic union,” said Minister Emerson.

          Ministers Emerson and Mockler enthusiastically welcomed the accession of Québec as the new chair and Nova Scotia as the vice-chair of the Committee on Internal Trade, and charged officials to carry forward the work of the Committee until they meet again in April 2005 in Québec. Finally, Ministers were pleased to announce the recent appointment of Anna Maria Magnifico as the new Executive Director of the Internal Trade Secretariat (www.intrasec.mb.ca).

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For more information, please contact:

Stéphanie Leblanc
Office of the Honourable David L. Emerson
Minister of Industry
(613) 995-9001

Bruno Godin, Director
Communications/Intergovernmental and International Relations
Government of New Brunswick
(506) 457-7275
Bruno.Godin@gnb.ca