I was really confused by all this and I could not understand the mechanisms that could even exist to put up trade barriers between provinces. I recently watched a TVO #OnPoli podcast that cleared it up a bit for me. These barriers are not explicit ones like tariffs or other inter-provincial taxes. They are things like having different requirements of a “first aid kit” in each province, so if you want to sell them, you have to consider 12 possibly contradictory standards. They are impedance that comes up incidentally, but while trying to meet some other end. There aren’t [necessarily] provinces intentionally trying to put up trade barriers. They are just managing their own affairs, and these minor barriers are an inevitable consequence of having provincial power at all.
They are things like having different requirements of a “first aid kit” in each province,
There are quite a number of different regulations for commercial vehicle equipment and operation across the provinces.
BC has some rules that were created to address thwir mountainous roads. Ontario has some of the most extensive rules on what the vehicle must be equipped with. The rules surrounding tire chains and studded tires differ across the country.
Of course, ir should be possible to harmonize them all, but that would put added burden on operators in some regions where certain requirements don’t make practical sense.
(Why would a truck in PEI need the same safety equipment as one operating in the BC mountains?)
Yeah, there are some things that can be better standardized, but for most goods industries I don’t think it’s the primary reason the US is more competitive.
I was really confused by all this and I could not understand the mechanisms that could even exist to put up trade barriers between provinces. I recently watched a TVO #OnPoli podcast that cleared it up a bit for me. These barriers are not explicit ones like tariffs or other inter-provincial taxes. They are things like having different requirements of a “first aid kit” in each province, so if you want to sell them, you have to consider 12 possibly contradictory standards. They are impedance that comes up incidentally, but while trying to meet some other end. There aren’t [necessarily] provinces intentionally trying to put up trade barriers. They are just managing their own affairs, and these minor barriers are an inevitable consequence of having provincial power at all.
There are quite a number of different regulations for commercial vehicle equipment and operation across the provinces.
BC has some rules that were created to address thwir mountainous roads. Ontario has some of the most extensive rules on what the vehicle must be equipped with. The rules surrounding tire chains and studded tires differ across the country.
Of course, ir should be possible to harmonize them all, but that would put added burden on operators in some regions where certain requirements don’t make practical sense.
(Why would a truck in PEI need the same safety equipment as one operating in the BC mountains?)
Yeah, there are some things that can be better standardized, but for most goods industries I don’t think it’s the primary reason the US is more competitive.