A LICENCE TO FIGHT?

Et tu, Saskatchewan? Of all the jurisdictions that share borders with Alberta, you would think the Land of Living Skies the least likely to ambush the province in what appears to be a manufactured trade skirmish.

Albertans expect such behaviour from B.C., whose doctrinaire government makes no bones about trying to scuttle pipeline projects critical to expanding the oilsands industry next door. On the southern border, the U.S. has long wrangled with Alberta over agricultural irritants such as country-of-origin labelling. There’s also the softwood lumber scrap and growing trade protectionism under the Trump regime.

But Saskatchewan? Because its economy also relies on resource extraction, the province has generally been Alberta’s ally on matters relating to the oilpatch. Many Albertans admire the conservative government of Brad Wall.

Relations between the neighbours did take a hit when an internal trade panel ruled last summer that Alberta’s de facto beer tax rebates to its small breweries discriminate against outof-province beers. To Saskatchewan’s irritation, Alberta is appealing that decision.

Now, seemingly out of nowhere comes Licenceplategate. Saskatchewan Transportation Minister Dave Marit declared Wednesday that vehicles with Alberta licence plates will be barred from future government highway and building project sites.

The ban applies only to vehicles from Alberta. Marit claims it’s a tit-for-tat measure in response to similar restrictions faced by Saskatchewan workers in Alberta.

Problem is, there is no “tat” to retaliate against. No one, including Marit, can definitively point to a policy or practice in Alberta that discriminates against out-of-province workers.

That’s because there is none, insists Alberta Economic Development Minister Deron Bilous. Saskatchewan officials never called to confirm whether its workers did face restrictions and gave no advance warning of the reprisal.

On Thursday, Bilous said he has been left to communicate through the media because neither the trade nor transport ministers in Saskatchewan are picking up the phone.

Bilous has threatened to take the dispute to court, a case he’s certain Alberta would win. Marit admitted his own lawyers gave him similar advice before issuing the directive.

The New West Trade Partnership prohibits any of the western provinces from favouring local companies in major government construction projects.

Let’s hope cooler heads prevail. If two kindred provinces can’t resolve a tempest in a teacup, what hope is there for any major trade dispute?