Premier Tim Houston says he wants to see more urgency from other provinces to remove trade barriers.
Houston, who is also the province’s trade minister, met with other trade ministers on Friday, and was “less than impressed with the urgency from some jurisdictions,” but said most premiers and the feds are on board.
“We actually had trade ministers that were talking about a 12-month study going across the country and looking at different regulations in different provinces. Obviously, that is way out of touch with what is necessary in this moment,” Houston told reporters on Wednesday.
He would not name which officials made those comments.
Removing trade barriers between provinces is part of the response to U.S. tariffs. Nova Scotia wants to rely less on their southern neighbour while supporting other Canadian businesses.
The Progressive Conservatives recently tabled a bill that would treat goods coming from other provinces as if they were made in Nova Scotia, meaning any testing done elsewhere would be treated the same as testing from within the province. That includes things like food but extends to the certifications of trades workers and truck drivers.
However, other provinces need to reciprocate the legislation for it to work.
So far, Houston said Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been very supportive, along with “a number of other provinces.”
“I believe that when Ontario joins on, being the biggest province, then we’ll see some real momentum, and we’ll see that quick,” said Houston.
‘If we need to do more, we’ll do more’
The province’s budget set aside $200 million as part of a contingency fund to deal with U.S. tariffs.
The premier would not say where that money would go as the country waits to see if the U.S. responds to Canada’s retaliatory tariffs.
Canada announced 25 per cent tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods on Tuesday, with the same tax coming to $125 billion worth of goods in three weeks.
“I don’t want to presuppose the programming, but I just want Nova Scotians to know that we’ll be there with this, and if we need to do more, we’ll do more,” said Houston.
In the meantime, the PCs have announced several measures to combat tariffs, including removing American-made alcohol from NSLC shelves, and doubling fees for commercial trucks at the Cobequid Pass toll.
