Quebec’s language law, Alberta’s power imports and provincial liquor control boards fuel U.S. trade grievances
Globe and Mail
Quebec’s French-first language law and Alberta’s electricity import practices are now officially trade grievances for the United States, marking province-specific issues that could complicate Canada’s federal response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive.
In the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s annual report on foreign trade barriers published this week, the USTR singled out the two perceived provincial trade barriers, among other irritants, faced by U.S. companies selling into Canada. It also called out all of Canada’s provincial liquor control boards for “greatly” hampering American exports of wine, beer and spirits through barriers such as cost-of-service markups and listing restrictions.
“No American President in modern history has recognized the wide-ranging and harmful foreign trade barriers American exporters face more than President Trump,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement accompanying the report’s release on Monday. “Under his leadership, this administration is working diligently to address these unfair and non-reciprocal practices.”
In the 397-page document outlining what it sees as unfair trade practices by some 60 countries, the USTR devotes six pages to Canada – raising well-documented U.S. grievances such as the supply management system that covers the dairy industry as well as the federal government’s digital services tax. White House officials have mentioned both as practices that Mr. Trump intends to fight.
But the trade watchdog, which reports to both the U.S. Congress and the President, also hits on at least three perceived irritants controlled by the provinces – over which Ottawa has limited say, if any. And while those things might not reflect Mr. Trump’s top priorities, they could play into the Canadian government’s response to what many analysts expect to be a punishing wave of new tariffs set to be announced by the President on Wednesday.
The USTR took aim at Quebec’s Bill 96, a signature piece of legislation passed into law last year by Premier François Legault’s government that strengthens the use of French. The law imposes stricter French language requirements for companies and empowers citizens to sue businesses that fail to serve them in French. It also tightens the use of languages other than French on product packaging, signs and commercial advertising.
“U.S. businesses have expressed concerns” about the impact that Bill 96 will have on their trademarks for products manufactured after June 1, which is when some of the law’s provisions come into force, the USTR said in its report. Product packaging and labelling is among those concerns, it said, alluding to the potential costs and difficulties of compliance.
Many Quebec business leaders have publicly voiced support for the logic of reinforcing French, though some have their own ideas about how best to do that. And there is sensitivity to the cultural and linguistic plight of Quebec as a French-speaking island in a sea of English-speakers.
But others have expressed worries about how to stickhandle the changes and say it could affect their efforts to recruit talent from outside the province.
Meanwhile, English school boards, bilingual municipalities and other civil society groups are challenging various parts of the law and questioning why the government is using such strong-arm tactics to enact change. The proposed legislation invokes the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Constitution to shield it from court challenge.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who remains Prime Minister during the election campaign ahead of the April 28 vote, vowed Tuesday to protect the law from foreign challenge even after expressing opposition to any province using the notwithstanding clause to pass legislation.
At a campaign stop in Winnipeg, he suggested he’s drawn clear lines in the sand about certain issues in negotiations with the United States.
“The French language and Canadian culture, including Quebec culture, and supply management will never be on the table” in trade talks, Mr. Carney said at a news conference.
Leaders for the Conservative Party and Bloc Québécois cast doubts about Mr. Carney’s commitment to Bill 96 given he’s said that a Liberal government, if elected, would act as an intervenor should the Supreme Court ever hear a challenge to the law.
For its part, the Quebec government insists it will not back down on a law it passed.
“It’s completely normal, responsible and reasonable that the only francophone state in North America defends and promotes the French language,” Quebec’s French Language Minister, Jean-François Roberge, told reporters in Quebec City.
This isn’t the first time the United States has taken issue with Quebec’s new language overhaul. Senior U.S. government officials have raised it with their Canadian counterparts last year and discussed privately the possibility of imposing sanctions on Canada over the legislation, CBC has reported. The matter takes on increased importance now, as Mr. Trump seeks to upend decades of U.S. trade policy.
The USTR also called out uneven market access provided by the Alberta Electric System Operator, the non-profit organization that runs the province’s power grid. Members of AESO’s board of directors are named by the Alberta government.
According to stakeholders, AESO has provided “separate and unequal points of access to the Alberta energy market” for Montana energy producers, the USTR report says.
“For example, during times of surplus or transmission congestion, AESO favors electricity generated within Alberta over equally priced U.S. power flowing across the border,” the report says. AESO has also proposed additional fees and other restrictions on imported energy, it says.
An energy company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway filed a formal complaint with the Alberta Utilities Commission over the issue. It alleges that AESO is engaging in “discriminatory and anti-competitive behaviour” by limiting electricity imports. The complaint was suspended last August while Alberta works on a redesign of its electricity market and transmission development policies.
“The AESO treats imports from both Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions equally,” Diane Kossman, a spokesperson for the system operator, said in an e-mail. “The AESO and Alberta are taking action to increase the amount that can be imported from both Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions, including expanding the services and infrastructure necessary to ensure that imports can flow reliably into the province.”
