The provincial government announced the signing of a new memorandum of understanding between Premier Scott Moe and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew on Monday. The agreement is aimed at improving interprovincial trade.
While the agreement is less than 24 hours old, it is already being met with optimism by many in the Weyburn area. This includes Mayor Jeff Richards, who pointed out the agreement could have a number of benefits for the city’s businesses, as well as its economy.
“Saskatchewan is standing strong through the storm that is our current trade challenges,” Premier Moe said in the release announcing the MOU. “Together, we are encouraging other jurisdictions to join Canada's most ambitious domestic trade agreement, and we are building on our economic relationship through further trade collaboration, for example, on direct-to-consumer alcohol sales.”
One of the biggest challenges in a few industries has been finding skilled workers in the trades. To help deal with the labour crunch, the MOU has a focus on labour mobility and the mutual recognition of credentials.
“Anytime that internal trade gets easier for Canadians, it gets better for us in Weyburn,” said Richards. “We hear all the time local businesses are struggling with labour, particularly in the trades.”
One of the biggest pieces is the timelines for the approval of permits when it comes to labour mobility. This was something Richards was excited about.
“We have read in the agreement that they are going to try to put a 30-day window on approval of permits for labour mobility, and that is huge,” he exclaimed. “If a business can find out within 30 days whether someone's going to be able to come and work for them versus sometimes 90 days, that is a huge improvement, and that should help our local guys attract the labour that they need as well.”
The agreement between Manitoba and Saskatchewan helps bolster what is already a rather large trade environment. Even with some of the interprovincial trade barriers in place, the two prairie provinces have a $6 billion relationship, and this agreement could see things grow even more, which would have positive impacts.
Richards pointed to the scale of the economies, and how even a small change can have big results, with a one per cent increase working out to an extra $60 million. The changes would see a modernization of things such as interprovincial alcohol sales, and an alignment of the trucking regulations which would make transport smoother, and more efficient.
"We've got local businesses right now that are going to benefit greatly from direct-to-consumer alcohol sales,” Richards pointed out. “It's time we modernize that system across our country, and I think we'll see new business spring up, quite frankly, and I think we'll see existing businesses flourish.”
The push in recent months to reduce the internal trade barriers has come in light of external trade challenges. These include tariffs in place with the United States and China, two of Canada’s largest trading partners, as well as an overall uneasiness based on the political situation south of the border.
“The silver lining here is we're going to clean up our own house first as Canadians, and I think that's very important,” Richards noted. “It shouldn't be; it should never be easier to get American beer into a bar than it is to get beer from Alberta into a bar.”
“By working with partners across the nation, we are unlocking opportunities for people and businesses and building up this country we all love so much,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said in the release.
With the deal promising faster access to skilled labour, new economic opportunities, and more efficient trade routes, it is seen as a positive and necessary step for communities like Weyburn.
“It’s great,” said Richards. “It’s great news.”