Quote:
Originally Posted by FactaNV
The province should make that economically unviable. If it's mined here it should be smelted and refined here. We have the potential to become a true have province, that won't happen if we just become Ontario's and Alberta's resource colony.
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The entire country has just rallied around the concept of "reducing interprovincial trade barriers". Requiring raw resources to be processed in-province is the perfect example of
adding a trade barrier. Across the country, Manitoba ranks relatively high for having very few internal trade barriers. What you ask for: A) doesn't add as much value as you think it does, and B) goes against the current drive to reduce trade barriers.
Provinces like BC and Quebec have been hesitant to lower trade barriers because some of their barriers are exactly what you describe. For example, in BC, lumber that is logged in province has to be processed in BC before being shipped out to other parts of Canada. Removing internal trade barriers involves removing this requirement, which means the lumber processing industry is at risk in BC, but there would be offsetting opportunity for other provinces to now process BC lumber should the math work out.
Everyone wants to "reduce provincial trade barriers" but it seems very few people actually understand what that entails, and are willing to become protectionist at a provincial level once they realize local jobs could be affected.