New Brunswick premier’s internal trade moves don’t touch industry protection

By Jacques Poitras
CBC News
April 28, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Premier Susan Holt’s bold talk about “eliminating” and “tearing down” interprovincial trade barriers still has a long way to go before it catches up with economic reality. …The two MOUs recently signed by New Brunswick say provinces will “build on” existing legislation, “strive to” open up trade, “encourage” other provinces to join in and “identity options” for harmonizing provincial regulations. …But so far she has not touched the big ones. Provincial policies require forestry companies licensed to cut wood on Crown land to sell that wood to mills within the province, for example. Kim Allen, with Forest NB, says those policies have created an integrated forestry sector that ensures there is enough wood to keep those mills running.  …”It is the province’s largest economic driver, so changing the flow of Crown wood could impact the value of the raw product that’s flowing out of the province… and put manufacturers at risk.

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