In 2010, provinces from western Canada came together and formed what is known as the New West Partnership Agreement. It is designed to remove trade barriers and increase the ability of labour to move more freely between the participating provinces.
This would seem like a natural alliance for the province of Manitoba to be a part of and to benefit from, except for one thing. The Manitoba NDP government wasn’t interested in being part of the New West Partnership and so it decided not to join.
The NDP have a long history of being resistant to trade agreements that take down barriers. This is true both on the federal and the provincial level. This was true even during the most recent federal election campaign where the NDP campaigned against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, preferring to be left out of the agreement rather than be a part of it.
And so since 2010 the Manitoba NDP has refused to join a trade partnership with provinces to the west. This past week, the negative impact of the NDP’s decision to leave Manitoba out of the New West trade agreement came to light as two of the western provinces in the agreement, Alberta and Saskatchewan, started giving preferential treatment to businesses that are within the trade zone. The preferential pricing for these businesses within the agreement will naturally put those outside of the agreement at a disadvantage.
As well, Saskatchewan has started requiring some of its crown corporations to enter into work contracts only with businesses within the trading zone. This will prevent some Manitoba companies from getting work with crown corporations in Saskatchewan. These were not only inevitable consequences of the NDP’s decision to go it alone, but they were long predicted. Yet, the NDP ignored the warnings and calls from business groups and from the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party to join the New West Partnership. And now it is costing Manitobans.
The trade minister for Saskatchewan, Jeremy Harrison, said this week that the door has always been open for Manitoba to join the New West Partnership trade agreement. But every time Manitoba was encouraged to join, the NDP quickly slammed the door shut.
The stubborn refusal by the NDP to join a trade agreement that would benefit Manitoba businesses and both protect and create jobs makes little sense. Manitoba is a trading province and it should be looking to build upon that strength at every opportunity. Joining the New West Partnership makes sense, it always has. But for the Manitoba NDP government, that isn’t enough. And it may take a change in government in the spring to ensure Manitoba enters the New West.
