Last month Canada's Premiers agreed to begin the elimination of regulatory barriers to trade among the provinces and territories to enable freer trade within Canada.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says, while the framework still needs to be drafted, the agreement in principle has been reached and he is pleased to see it moving forward.

Brian Pallister-Premier Manitoba:

It is true that, in the past, we listed what we would trade and now we will list what we do not and so this opens the door wider to trade on a variety of fronts not just in select areas of our economy but broadly across all economic sectors.

Secondly this is going to be transparent so it will be public so that people in every province will see where their leaders are not willing to allow free and open trade.

This aligns our country better with CETA for example, with the tentative deal we have with European countries where such protectionism would not be permitted.

The principles upon which this agreement was based are of non-discrimination.

It's a cornerstone rule of trade.

They're also based on the principle that we should all try to ensure the free flow of goods and services across our boundaries and they also make sure that we improve access to government procurement opportunities for all companies.

All governments have made precedenting commitments to maintain these practices and principles.
We are excited to see this agreement move forward and we think it will be a great advantage to all the people of Canada as we pursue growing economies and we pursue efficiencies to assist in that goal.

Pallister says this agreement stands to benefit Manitoba possibly more significantly than some provinces but none the less it will benefit all provinces.