Northern premiers show openness to removing trade barriers with western provinces

Sidney Cohen · CBC News

· Posted: May 23, 2025 9:47 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Territorial premiers are signalling openness to removing commercialized barriers with occidental provinces, but not without conditions.

Speaking aft the decision of a occidental and bluish premiers' summit in Yellowknife connected Thursday, Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai said B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba person invited the territories to articulation their commercialized pact, the New West Partnership Trade Agreement.

"They've opened up the doorway for us, with flexibility and respect to the North, for america to motion connected to the occidental commercialized statement that's successful place," said Pillai. "My consciousness from my colleagues from the different territories, and ourselves from the Yukon, are that's thing that we deliberation is important."

In a associated connection connected Thursday, the occidental premiers urged each provinces and territories to articulation the New West Partnership.

The national authorities prioritized freeing up commercialized wrong Canada aft U.S. President Donald Trump launched a commercialized warfare with Canada successful the winter. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said his authorities and Canada's premiers person agreed to processing a nationalist commercialized strategy.

On Thursday, the occidental and bluish premiers said "unjustified and unreasonable tariffs" are creating uncertainty for workers and businesses successful occidental Canada. They called connected the national authorities to "reassess" Canada's retaliatory tariffs and their impacts connected radical successful Canada. 

Indigenous gov'ts indispensable be involved successful commercialized decisions: Pillai

It's unclear what joining the occidental commercialized bloc would mean for existing protections for Northern and Indigenous businesses. 

In the Northwest Territories for example, the Business Incentive Policy (BIP) gives preferential attraction to N.W.T.-owned businesses bidding connected authorities contracts. The Yukon has a akin procurement argumentation related to Yukon First Nations-owned businesses.

Pillai pointed to the North's precocious attraction of modern treaties and said "we can't marque a unilateral determination astir removing a definite objection without sitting down with Indigenous governments and figuring retired what's champion for each northerners."

Earlier this period the bluish premiers said they would research the anticipation of a "territorial commercialized zone" that would relationship for modern treaties.

N.W.T. Premier R.J. Simpson did not perpetrate outright to maintaining BIP if and erstwhile commercialized barriers travel down, but said connected Thursday that his authorities does privation to marque definite that nationalist wealth spent successful the North benefits northerners. 

"We're not opposed to inviting companies from different parts of Canada to travel up present and bash concern and work, but we request to marque definite that we person the quality to enactment section businesses truthful that we don't conscionable go a colony for the remainder of Canada," helium said.

Simpson said antecedently that efforts to let freer commercialized crossed Canada volition apt mean the N.W.T. volition person to "give up immoderate things."

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe called the New West Partnership the "gold standard" erstwhile it comes to escaped trade, labour mobility and procurement rules. 

Moe said the occidental provinces would see immoderate exemptions for the territories, should they take to join.

"The 4 big provinces of the New West Partnership are much than consenting to look astatine that," helium said.

The premiers talked astir a scope of issues successful their closed-door meetings, including vigor and Arctic security, economical corridors, housing, cause trafficking and exigency preparedness. 

But extracurricular those gathering rooms, the league was overshadowed by Alberta separation rhetoric, and worries astir the impacts connected N.W.T. young radical of Alberta's Bill 26, which restricts gender-affirming attraction for minors.

Wednesday evening, aft the archetypal time of meetings, the Dene Nation and the Northern Mosaic Network held rallies extracurricular the Legislative Assembly gathering successful Yellowknife to amusement enactment for pact rights and trans rights. 

Last week Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's authorities passed authorities that would marque it easier to clasp a referendum. At the aforesaid time, separatist groups successful the state person been pushing for a provincial ballot connected Alberta seceding from Canada. 

Dene National Chief George Mackenzie said the Smith government's actions nonstop a connection to the Treaty radical of Alberta: "If you're not happy, permission Alberta."

"To accidental that to Alberta Natives is similar a slap successful the face. An insult," Mackenzie told CBC.

Treaties 6, 7 and 8 encompass immense swaths of territory successful Alberta and different provinces. Treaty 8 besides covers a information of the Northwest Territories.

On Thursday, Smith re-stated her tendency for "a sovereign Alberta wrong a agreed Canada."

"The vexation that Alberta has, has been that it's been a batch easier to bash concern with our confederate neighbour than it's been to bash concern crossed the country," she said.

Smith said that if Carney acts connected ideas successful the occidental and bluish premiers' associated statement, "it would instrumentality the upwind close retired of immoderate [separation] effort."