Ontario and Manitoba ink deal to boost interprovincial trade [Video]

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew signed an agreement Wednesday to boost the movement of goods and labour between the two provinces, including direct-to-consumer alcohol sales in place by the end of June.

Both premiers signed a memorandum of understanding, which followed Ontario signing similar bilateral deals with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

“Our two provinces already do approximately $19.5 billion of interprovincial trade every single year, but we can do better,” Ford said.

“As neighbours and partners within Canada, Ontario and Manitoba can lead the way by creating new opportunities for goods, services and workers to move freely between our provinces.”

Ontario recently tabled legislation to do away with all exceptions in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement that protected certain goods and services.

Manitoba is set to table similar legislation, Kinew said. He said the new deal is about trust.

“We trust that somebody who gets …