In a rare bit of sanity emanating from the Senate, proving Senators are sometimes awake, the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce made some recommendations aimed at eliminating the trade barriers within Canada even offering some tongue in cheek comments.
Provincial discrepancies in truck configuration standards and limits on the use of high-tech, fuel-efficient single tires are among two of the most โmind-bogglingโ policies โsapping billions of dollarsโ from the Canadian economy each year.
Senators released a report on internal barriers to trade, called Tear Down These Walls: Dismantling Canadaโs Internal Trade Barriers. In it, they say โduelling bureaucracies and maddening regulationsโ among various jurisdictions are creating barriers to internal trade and weighing down Canadaโs economy.
Number 1 and 2 on the committeeโs somewhat cheeky Top 10 List of โweirdestโ trade barriers that should be dismantled concern the trucking industry:
โSome (oversize/overweight) truck configurations must be driven at night in British Columbia โ and only during the day in neighbouring Alberta. Insomniacs rejoice.โ
โSome provinces impose limits on the use of high-tech fuel-efficient tires so truckers have to swap them out at the border. Pit crews not included.โ
These are some of the same issues raised by the BCTA, AMTA and CTA at three separate Senate hearings over the spring.
The full report highlights several other trucking policy inconsistencies across the country.
โFederal, provincial and territorial governments have allowed internal barriers to trade to persist. The committee urges co-operation between all levels of government to reduce the significant costs these barriers impose on Canadian consumers, businesses and workers. The federal government is in the best position to lead on this issue,โ the committee said.
It is the hope of the trucking associations the report serves to educate politicians and policy makers on removing regulatory barriers which would make the industry and the economy more efficient.
