Trade barriers coming down will open new markets for P.E.I. businesses, says Compton
‘We're not just for consumption on P.E.I., but for all Canadians,’ says Darlene Compton
Efforts to bring down provincial and territorial trade barriers will soon create new economic opportunities for local businesses, P.E.I.'s minister of economic development, innovation and trade said Friday.
Darlene Compton recently attended a meeting of federal, provincial and territorial ministers in Quebec City, where Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland hosted a full day of discussions focused on interprovincial trade.
One of the key announcements from the talks was an agreement allowing direct-to-consumer alcohol sales across most of Canada by May 2026.
Canadians in Yukon and all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador will be able to order alcohol for personal consumption directly from producers that operate elsewhere in the country.
Compton said this will expand opportunities for Island businesses, allowing customers in other regions to order directly from Island wineries and breweries online. She added that the province has heard from these businesses that they are interested in this opportunity.
"It would open a lot of markets for them," she told CBC's Island Morning on Friday. "We're not just for consumption on P.E.I., but for all Canadians. So, yes, I think it's a good thing. It exposes them to new markets."
Compton said a number of details still need to be finalized — including how taxation will work as well as how to deal with age verification and social responsibility.
Reducing red tape
The agreement was part of a broader effort to remove interprovincial trade barriers as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to wage a trade war on countries including Canada.
In addition to alcohol sales, the ministers signed a memorandum of understanding addressing trucking regulations and labour mobility issues.
"We're trying to reduce the red tape and give people the opportunity to work and live wherever they want," Compton said. "The interest is there across all provinces to make labour mobility top of mind."
The federal government is also working with provinces and territories to expand the Mutual Recognition Project in the trucking sector — a pilot aimed at aligning regulations to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Compton pointed to the example of seasonal weight restrictions on trucks on P.E.I., designed to lessen damage on secondary roads during the muddy season when pavement is more prone to breaking up.
"What we would like to see is that those weight restrictions equal whatever the weight restriction or the weight would be for a truck, you know, going across any one of the provinces," she said.
She acknowledged reducing trade barriers could increase competition, but said it also brings significant benefits.
"It's opening P.E.I. up to so many different customers. So, you know, it's really expanding our customer base."
No timeline yet on promised bridge, ferry toll cuts
As for campaign promises Prime Minister Mark Carney made earlier this year to reduce tolls on the Confederation Bridge and Northumberland Ferries service, Compton said there's no update yet.
During the election campaign in April, Carney pledged to cut bridge tolls by more than half and reduce ferry fares by at least 50 per cent. Bridge tolls are now more than $50 per vehicle. The ferry costs nearly $90 per car.
Compton said P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz met with Freeland last week and raised the issue.
"I would say, stay tuned. We're working very diligently. And I think having both myself and the premier in person in front of Minister Freeland, she was well aware of what we would like to see on P.E.I.," she said.
"We have a new government, for all intents and purposes, with a new prime minister... getting elected and having new ministers put in place, it just takes a while to get where they need to be to make these decisions.
"I think we will get there, and I'll keep pushing," Compton said.
Concerns over Wood Islands Harbour dredging
One topic that didn't make it into Compton's meetings with Freeland was the federal government's plan to dredge Wood Islands Harbour later this year.
The ferry service connecting eastern P.E.I. and northern Nova Scotia experienced multiple sailing cancellations last month due to what Northumberland Ferries Ltd. called "unusually low tides." The company has also announced that from July 22 to 28, some sailings will have reduced vehicle capacity, and others will be cancelled due to "tide-constrained loading."
While the planned dredging can help address these disruptions, it has raised concerns among some Island fishers about where all the accumulated sediment will go.
The P.E.I. Fishermen's Association worries that dumping sediment at sea could harm lobster fishing grounds in the Northumberland Strait. They are advocating for it to be dumped on land instead.
"It has happened before that dredging was deposited in the strait," Compton said.
"I guess the best worst-case scenario would be to make sure that it was dumped where we do not have lobster. So that's something [where the Department of] Environment will work with their [federal] counterparts to make sure that it's the best-case scenario for them."
With files from Island Morning