Mr. Speaker, a very well known Canadian was asked a few weeks ago what was the single largest problem in dealing with international trade. This very prominent Canadian, the hon. member for Peace River who just asked the question, said that the single largest factor which is preventing Canadian business from doing business around the world is the lack of interprovincial free trade. The hon. member has already alluded to why that is.
Canadian companies, in some cases, need the ability to build. They have to get the economics of scale so they can compete on the world market. In many cases they cannot build when they are operating within one province. There are so many barriers to doing business in other provinces which prevent the growth that is needed in order for Canadian business people to succeed in international trade.
This is almost unbelievable. It has become so bad that I have had business people tell me it is easier for them to do business with some states in the United States than it is with other provinces. Some of them say: "We are moving out. We do not want to move out. We love this country. But we are moving out of this country because if we do business in the United States then we have free access to all Canadian provinces and we do not have to jump through all the hoops which we would be required to if we were doing business with the provinces from within a Canadian province". That is a sad commentary, but it is the truth.