Carney says trade, energy project bills coming ‘shortly’ as premiers meet

Monday's meeting was expected to be dominated by premiers presenting their wish lists for which major projects should be prioritized and fast-tracked with federal government help.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday the federal government will table legislation “very shortly” that will remove barriers on interprovincial trade and fast-track new energy infrastructure projects considered to be in the national interest.

Carney confirmed his plans as he and Canada’s premiers met to discuss which major projects should be fast-tracked — and whether a new oil pipeline should be one of them — and as provinces do their part to boost internal trade in the face of U.S. economic aggression.

“I can’t keep up with the flurry of announcements of free trade agreements between provinces and across the country,” Carney said as the meeting opened in Saskatoon.

“The federal government will do its part to table legislation very shortly to eliminate federal barriers to inter-provincial movement of goods and people, and also to put in place an ability to advance projects of national interest.”

The meeting was the first between Canada’s first ministers since the federal election, which saw Carney’s Liberals elected to a minority government on promises to shore up the domestic economy and make Canada an “energy superpower.”

Carney promised during the campaign and in last week’s throne speech that his government would work to remove all federal internal trade barriers by Canada Day this year — now less than a month away.

Reducing those barriers will make it easier for provinces and territories to buy Canadian-made goods from each each other and allow workers greater mobility across the country.

Many provinces, including Quebec and Ontario, came to the table with legislation already put forward that would eliminate some of these longstanding blocks to internal trade.