Now that we’re talking trade, it works be a good time to address Canada’s internal trade barriers:
“Let’s sit down and come up with a list, because everyone wants to protect something – no matter if it’s the dairy cow in Newfoundland, or the wine in B.C., or ourselves – everyone’s guilty,” he added.
Consumers are confronted by these roadblocks every day. A craft brewery in Quebec can’t sell its beer directly to a nearby restaurant in Ottawa. An engineer in New Brunswick has to get licensed in neighbouring Nova Scotia before practising there. A truck driver in British Columbia can only drive certain truck configurations at night but must do so during the day in Alberta – leaving a narrower time frame to make an interprovincial trek.
Taken together, these barriers are constraining Canada’s economic potential. Research shows that tearing them down would give the economy a sizable boost – perhaps enough to offset the hit from steep U.S. tariffs.
This is such a Quebec experience, lol.
Montreal is a lot more Anglo-friendly these days, but there is still friction with the rest of the local communities from the surrounding cities/towns because a lot of the newer people moving to Montreal don’t really try to learn French. When I spoke French there (with an Ontario accent) they were surprisingly appreciative of it.
Quebec City I had the same experience as you though. The Belgium comparison is apt.
Thank you for sharing your experience! As a US/CAD dual citizen, I’ve always been more pulled to my Canadian side, and I love hearing other people speak about their experiences here.