Trucking association says B.C. stands to lose more than it gains tolling American vehicles
CBC
The B.C. Trucking Association says it does not support legislation tabled by the B.C. government that would give the province power to apply fees to U.S. commercial traffic traveling to and from Alaska.
On Thursday, the province passed first reading of its sweeping Economic Stabilization (Tariff Response) Act, which Premier David Eby has characterized as "enabling legislation" — giving the government the power to respond to economic threats from the United States as they arise.
Included in the bill is a section allowing tolls, fees or charges to be applied to both road traffic and to ferries traveling along the coast.
That power, said association president Dave Earle, is one many of his members are worried about.
"The free movement of goods throughout North America is the core of our business," he told CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton. "Anything that puts that at risk, be it a barrier, time, fee, tax, whatever ... that's always a very serious concern."
He questioned the practicality of the measure, given how many different entry points there are into B.C. from various provinces and states, any one of which could eventually connect to Yukon and then on to Alaska.
He also pointed out that the province's own figures, provided by the Ministry of Transportation, show fewer than 10,000 trucks travel through B.C. to Alaska annually — a miniscule figure compared to those that travel through the United States to deliver goods between Mexico and Canada which, he said, raises "the prospect of retaliation."
"The American president has been very chaotic, I think it's fair to say, in his approach to things," Earle said.
"While there are hundreds of movements of vehicles through British Columbia in any given week to the state of Alaska, there are tens of thousands of truck movements through America from Mexico to Canada moving fruits and vegetables and other goods."
"We need to be very, very thoughtful about what the impacts of our decisions are."
Indeed, federal numbers show that Mexico is Canada's third-largest trading partner, with a relationship that includes more than $2 billion worth of fruits and vegetables coming into the country every year.
In contrast, most of Alaska's foreign trade is with China, with the majority of goods — more than 90 per cent — coming into the state by boat rather than road, making any action on B.C.'s part more symbolic than practical, Earle said.
Eby conceded the point when asked about it by reporters, saying the main reason he would target Alaska is the fact it has both a Republican governor and congresswoman who "have access to the president" and can "go to the president and say, 'What are you doing?'"
Eby has said he would only use the legislation as needed and that there are provisions built in requiring proof that any actions taken through it are the result of the reasonable belief that the province is under threat from a foreign government.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.
Statistics Canada is reporting a population decrease last quarter for New Brunswick — its largest quarterly decline since the 1970s, according to an economic development consultant.
Residents clapped, danced, sang and cried in the Anishinaabe community of Kitcisakik this week when the lights were finally turned on for the first time.
A man is suing three members of a Winnipeg family and a real estate broker he alleges used his intellectual disability to financially exploit him through property deals in Canada and India, leaving him out hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life.
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.
Every year, snowy owls spread their wings and migrate down to the Prairies, where they enjoy access to plenty of rodent prey in vast open spaces.
This month has been a busy stretch at the Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown.
N.W.T. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland says she has received the final report from an independent investigation into education bodies in the Dehcho region.
P.E.I.’s auditor general says he’s concerned and disappointed that the projected deficit has doubled what government initially estimated it would be — and he's urging the province to balance its budget.
A man found not criminally responsible for stabbing five people to death at a Calgary house party is getting more freedoms but not an absolute discharge.
A man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a Toronto mother outside a supervised consumption site in Leslieville.
Russian olive trees — sometimes known as silver berry or oleaster — are small, ornamental plants with silvery leaves and black bark, and small yellow flowers and silver fruit that look like miniature olives. They’re pretty, but they’re a problem.