NEWS RELEASE
MP ALEX NUTTALL, BARRIE-SPRINGWATER-ORO-MEDONTE
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OTTAWA, ON – Today, MP Alex Nuttall was promoted to shadow minister for Internal Trade.
Prior to this MP Nuttall was shadow minister for Youth, Sports and Persons with Disabilities.
“I am very pleased that Alex has agreed to serve as the Conservative shadow minister for Internal Trade. I know that he will do an excellent job holding the Liberals’ feet to the fire and pushing them to take meaningful action to reduce trade barriers,” said Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer.
“Part of me is sad that I’m leaving the Youth, Sport and Persons with Disabilities file, we did incredible work with Minister Qualtrough getting Bill C-81 passed through the House of Commons. However, it is an incredible honour to be entrusted with this new portfolio. Internal trade impacts Canadians every day, and as we saw with the 2017 Canada Free Trade Act, this file has been totally mismanaged by the Liberals,” said MP Nuttall.
“When it comes to internal trade barriers, it’s a no brainer, there should be no barriers whatsoever. The current agreement (that entered into force on July 1, 2017) is a complete betrayal of the principals on which our Confederation is built. If the conservatives had managed the 2017 negotiations the document would consist of one sentence on one sheet of paper, saying “Canada is a tariff free zone”, and this document would get signed by every single Premier and territorial leader,” added MP Nuttall.
Section 121 of our 1867 Constitution clearly states that goods must be “admitted free” as they move from one province to another. There are hundreds of items under the so-called “Canada Free Trade Act” that still have tariffs charged when crossing provincial borders.
Right now, it is easier for a winery in B.C. to directly sell into Asia than it is to sell in Ontario. These outdated policies are absurd, and they need to end. The Conservative Party simply wants to open our internal economy for all Canadian producers of other products.
As President Donald Trump continues to levy tariffs against Canadian goods, and as Canada retaliates against American goods, there has never been a time where the elimination of tariffs and the creation of an absolute free trade zone from coast to coast to coast is so important.
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