Through a Union Lens from Nova Scotia

To all working people in Nova Scotia,

This is important and it’s more than the sound bites we get from our governments, and we feel as if we must issue a warning about new “free trade” laws being pushed by the provincial and federal governments. They claim that these laws will remove trade barriers between provinces and boost the economy. However, the truth is that these changes have very little to do with trade and everything to do with weakening the rules that protect jobs, safety, and communities. The notion that Canada and its provinces have significant trade barriers hindering our economy is a myth. Most goods and services already move freely between provinces. This movement on mutual recognition is really about giving more power to big business and taking it away from democratically elected governments.

We need to understand what’s at stake. A Race to the Bottom for Workers: These new laws are built on an idea called “mutual recognition.” It means that if a product or a worker’s qualifications are good enough for one province, they must be accepted in Nova Scotia without question. This sounds simple, but it creates a dangerous “race to the bottom.”

Lowering Standards: Instead of all provinces agreeing on the highest standards for things like workplace safety or professional training, this system encourages a drop to the lowest standard. A company could follow weaker safety rules from another province while operating in Nova Scotia, putting Nova Scotian workers at risk. Under Nova Scotia’s Free Trade and Mobility within Canada Act, a company can operate in the province while following weaker safety rules from another province through a principle known as “mutual recognition.” This concept is central to the new legislation and creates a potential “race to the bottom” for safety standards.

The Principle of Mutual Recognition: The new law states that if a product, service, or worker’s qualification is approved in a “reciprocating jurisdiction” (another province with a similar law), Nova Scotia must automatically accept it as valid. This means out-of-province standards are treated as equivalent to Nova Scotia’s, even if they are lower. The goal is to remove “red tape,” but it forces Nova Scotia to trust the rules of other provinces without being able to enforce its own potentially higher standards. 

Threatening Good Jobs: Our government is relinquishing its authority to utilize public construction projects to generate local employment. Under these rules, it becomes more challenging to ensure that taxpayer money is used to hire Nova Scotian workers.

Watering Down Qualifications: The Free Trade and Mobility within Canada Act, which was rushed through our legislature with minimal debate, requires our province to automatically approve workers from other provinces. While we welcome workers to our province, we must ensure they meet Nova Scotia’s high standards for training and safety. Automatic recognition without proper checks could lower the quality of services and put the public at risk.

A Bad Deal for Taxpayers and Our Communities: This isn’t just about the workplace. These new trade rules threaten the public services and local businesses that make our communities strong. They tie the government’s hands, making it harder to act in the public interest.

Losing Local Control: The new laws strip Nova Scotia of its ability to enforce its own unique rules and protections when dealing with provinces like Ontario and Alberta. For example, our small but growing wine industry could be harmed by having to compete directly with large wineries from Ontario without the usual protections afforded to local businesses.

Risking Our Environment and Services: By removing exceptions in trade agreements, the government is relinquishing its ability to protect the environment, manage natural resources, and deliver robust public services. Important decisions about our province could be challenged in trade disputes by corporations or other provinces, leaving taxpayers liable for the consequences.

A Power Grab: This new legislation grants the Premier’s office the authority to override our province’s regulators on matters of public health, safety, and environmental protection, prioritizing business interests over public well-being.

What is happening is a quiet transfer of power from the public to corporations. The potential economic gains from these changes are minimal, but the risks to our standards, jobs, and democratic control are substantial. We must demand that our government prioritizes the people of Nova Scotia over the profits of big business.