Sask.-Alta. border issues starting to simmer

By Medicine Hat News Opinon on December 15, 2017.

The Saskatchewan government’s requirement of having only Saskatchewan licensed vehicles on government construction sites perhaps hits a nerve that runs much deeper.

Saskatchewan’s infrastructure minister has given a range of reasons why he felt the new rule was necessary, including Alberta having similar rules and Alberta not having a sales tax. Presumably he felt this gave Alberta companies an unfair advantage.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has been quoted as saying the new rules help to offset what Alberta put in place regarding craft beer taxes.

In fact there are all sorts of trade barriers between Alberta and Saskatchewan. A company providing transportation to workers from Alberta to Saskatchewan is required to have a permit to enter Saskatchewan. That costs a lot of money. The only way to avoid this would be to drive Albertans to the border and have a Saskatchewan company pick them up from there and continue the journey into Saskatchewan. It is rather cumbersome and, of course, not at all convenient for the passengers. It does not look as though that even factors into the decisions made by the politicians.

In 2007 many families living in Saskatchewan had someone working in Alberta to bring home the big bucks from an oil fields job. They would work on rotation, coming home every other week.

It may not have been good for family dynamics but it certainly brought a lot of money into Saskatchewan as the workers’ families enjoyed the benefits of higher wages.

That is not always how Saskatchewanians saw it though.

A radio phone-in program that year addressed the subject of the number of Saskatchewan workers in Alberta. Many callers were vitriolic in the extreme about those who had “sold out” to Alberta. The anger was summed up in one memorable call.

People who had lowered themselves to working in Alberta should be punished for doing so, the caller said. The suitable punishment, he thought, would be for those returning to Saskatchewan to not be allowed to drive a “truck” for at least six months. Others thought that was the solution too.

Evidently it would be so humiliating for a man to not be allowed to drive a truck for a few months that this would deter anyone from working in Alberta.

This whole issue puts a spotlight on so-called barrier-free trade between provinces. It looks as though it does not exist.

It is particularly interesting in light of the position Wall has often taken about other provinces creating barriers for pipelines to be built across the country to get oil to tidewater.

If we carry on like this we could soon see official borders as you enter other provinces. There may even be border officials demanding documentation and the authority to search vehicles and impose tariffs.

(Gillian Slade is a News reporter. To comment on this and other editorials go to https://www.medicinehatnews.com/opinions. You can also email her at gslade@medicinehatnews.com or call her at 403-528-8635.)

15
-14