Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have unveiled plans to boost energy and trade infrastructure between the provinces, but political experts aren’t convinced of the agreement.
The two premiers attended a signing ceremony in Calgary on Monday, publicly announcing two new Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs). The plans are framed as a bold step toward building a self-reliant and Canada-focussed economy.
The agreements will see Alberta and Ontario work together to plan for an east-west pipeline made using Ontario steel, connecting to Ontario’s planned James Bay deep-sea port in the province’s north.
Additionally, there are plans for new rail lines, which will connect Ontario’s Ring of Fire region, critical mineral mining projects and processing facilities to western Canadian ports.
The provinces also agreed to support the prioritization of made-in-Canada vehicles for the Alberta government’s fleet of vehicles and to support the increased presence of Alberta beer, wine, liquor and other alcoholic beverages on Ontario store shelves.
“In the face of President Trump’s tariffs and ongoing economic uncertainty, Canadians need to work together to build the infrastructure that will diversify our trading partners and end our dependence on the United States,” Ford said on Monday.
“Together, we are building the infrastructure we need to protect Canada, our workers, businesses and communities. Let’s build Canada.”
POLITICAL EXPERTS EXPRESS DOUBT IN PREMIERS’ PLANS
Some Toronto-based political science experts argue the announcement may be more about political theatre than meaningful change.
Nelson Wiseman, a University of Toronto Professor Emeritus of Political Science, calls the plans “performative.”
“They don’t really add up to anything in terms of moving the ball along, in terms of both trade and energy,” Wiseman explained to Now Toronto on Monday.
He says the memorandums are largely aspirations, offering no firm commitment to eliminating trade barriers or funding new pipelines. And while the premiers touted the MOUs as a response to economic threats, including potential tariffs under a future Trump presidency, Wiseman notes that interprovincial trade barriers are already minimal.
“It’s not clear what the interprovincial boundaries are to trade… Beyond alcohol, I don’t know of any good in Canada that can’t be exported from one province to another province,” he said.
Wiseman also raised concerns about the environmental consequences of the provinces’ agreement, saying it could lead to a “race to the bottom” with the federal government on climate standards.
“It gives them an opportunity to attack the federal government… they’re calling for the federal government to amend or repeal all the legislation that could be related to their legislation, related to environment or resource development,” he said.
University of Toronto Professor Jack Cunningham agrees the documents are mostly symbolic.
“These agreements are not legally binding. An agreement that’s not legally binding, in fact, does tend to be performative if it creates no obligations,” Cunningham explained to Now Toronto on Monday.“It can be disregarded when convenient,” he added.
Cunningham sees the agreements as part of a broader political trend which includes provinces trying to work around Ottawa to shape national economic and energy policy.
“Lobbying Ottawa may be more productive now than it was, say, a year ago, because we’ve got a prime minister that seems much more sympathetic to the need to get infrastructure built, not solely in the energy field, but they’re there as well,” he said.
“The two premiers may be knocking on an open door, it probably helps them both politically, to be seen to be advocating for tearing down regional trade barriers, for making it easier to get infrastructure built… But by itself, these agreements don’t accomplish a great deal.”
Ontario has been active in pushing interprovincial trade liberalization. Since April, it has signed trade-related MOUs with six provinces and passed legislation eliminating all its exceptions under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement. Two-way trade between Ontario and Alberta alone reached $62.4 billion in 2021.
Still, both professors question the suggestion that these new agreements will significantly reshape Canada’s economic landscape.
“They don’t do an awful lot in terms of creating entities to actually move things forward,” Cunningham echoed.
