Premiers make headway on trade, Arctic security: Kinew

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/02/2025 (210 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Team Canada scored a hockey win over the U.S. Thursday, hours after the other Team Canada — of first ministers — looked for ways to stickhandle through interprovincial trade and Arctic security.

“On the day that Team Canada brought home the 4 Nations Cup, you had the other Team Canada working together in a very collaborative and constructive way,” Premier Wab Kinew said in an interview Friday.

The premiers and territorial leaders met virtually Thursday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they try to plan for potential tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canadian goods.

“The federal government was sharing some of their lay of the land in terms of what they’re hearing in (Washington,) D.C. and across the country,” the premier said without sharing any details.

The push to remove barriers to trade between the provinces is being driven by Trump’s threatened 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada starting March 4. Businesses across Canada, including more than 1,800 in Manitoba that export to the U.S., could soon be scrambling to find new customers.

On Thursday, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, at a campaign event for Ontario Premier Doug Ford, promised to remove trade barriers to provinces who did likewise. Kinew welcomed the proposal, saying this province is already a leader in removing trade barriers.

“Any move to kind of match what Manitoba has done already, I think we would welcome,” Kinew said.

In 2024, Manitoba topped the Canadian Federation of Independent Business list of provincial and territorial governments when it comes to advancing internal trade. It earned a grade of A-minus.

“Manitoba is currently the only province that allows the direct-to-consumer shipment of all Canadian wine, craft beer, and craft spirits — which is unheard of in any other jurisdiction,” said CFIB senior policy analyst SeoRhin Yoo.

Yoo noted the province is part of the New West Partnership Trade Agreement that allows for interprovincial trade between B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan.

“Right now, Manitobans can order a bottle of wine from Niagara online.” Kinew said. “The same isn’t necessarily true for somebody in other provinces who want to order something from Little Brown Jug,” said Kinew, referring to a Winnipeg craft beer company.

“I think it’d be really beneficial for a lot of our businesses here to see that barrier come down.”

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Head Start

Weekday Mornings

A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day.

Sign up for Head Start

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

The premier also touted Manitoba for mitigating another Trump threat — the annexation of Canada to protect North America’s Arctic and its resources from Russia and China. Kinew said he “made the pitch” to the first ministers that the deepsea Port of Churchill should play a major role in northern security.

“We know that the defence department is going to set up a bunch of new operating bases across the North. I made that pitch (Thursday) and I’ve made it previously to the federal government that we need one of those in Churchill, if not in multiple locations in Manitoba’s North, because we already have so much of the infrastructure.”

The Port of Churchill and the rail line that serves it are already in the North, and serve resupply ships that go to Nunavut, he said. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to establish a Canadian Forces Base in Iqaluit if his party forms the next federal government.

“We’ve got not only what the United States needs when we’re part of this tariff conversation, but we also have what Canada needs when we’re talking about Arctic sovereignty here in Manitoba,” said Kinew.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.