Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland on Wednesday announced internal trade between provinces under her leadership “has become sexy.” Freeland, who resigned as finance minister December 16, the day she was meant to present her department’s Fall Economic Statement, was appointed internal trade minister on March 14 by then de facto Prime Minister Mark Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau as Liberal party leader. Carney was formally elected April 28, and selected his new cabinet on Tuesday, keeping Freeland in her cabinet position. .“The prime minister said yesterday how humbled he was to be taking on his job. And that's exactly my feeling,” Freeland told reporters on her way to Carney’s first cabinet meeting.“I think that this is a critical moment for Canada, a consequential moment. I'm absolutely confident that Mark Carney has already begun to be a consequential prime minister for Canada, someone who is committed to building Canada, and I'm really grateful to be part of this team.”“I'm especially excited about internal trade. This is something that Canadian economists, Canadian geeks, have been talking about for decades, entire books have written about it. The IMF has estimated that lifting all barriers to internal trade will add as much as 4% to our GDP. That is a lot, and we really need it right now.”“I really believe this is a moment we can get it done.”“Internal Trade has become sexy. It has. I know it's funny, but yet true.”Freeland reiterated the Liberals’ promise to demolish interprovincial trade barriers by July 1.“I really think this is the moment. We have to seize this moment, to get free trade in Canada done by Canada Day," she said. .Ontario and Manitoba have already reached an internal trade agreement on direct-to-consumer alcohol sales, and have promised it will go into effect by the end of June, reported the Globe & Mail. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is in Queen’s Park is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Wednesday. It seeks to remove interprovincial trade barriers between the two provinces beyond just alcohol — it promises Manitoba and Ontario will produce legislation that increases the flow of goods and workers. Ford this week said he is pursuing all the premiers for such deals. In April, Ontario signed a memorandum of understanding on internal trade with both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
