Via email: chrystia.freeland@parl.gc.ca
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Transport and Internal Trade
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Dear Minister Freeland,
On behalf of the Competition Law and Foreign Investment Review Section, the Commodity Tax and Trade Section, the International Law Section, and the Business Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), please accept our congratulations on your appointment as Canada’s Minister of Transport and Internal Trade. Your mandate to strengthen Canada’s internal market and remove interprovincial trade barriers is of vital importance to the country’s economic resilience.
The CBA is a national association of more than 40,000 lawyers, notaries, academics and law students dedicated to improving the law and the administration of justice. Our Sections unite practitioners who work daily at the crossroads of law, commerce and public policy—expertise we hope will be useful as you advance the internal‑trade agenda.
Our Competition Law and Foreign Investment Review Section has a long history of engagement on competition and investment policy, including the interaction between the review processes under the Canada Transportation Act and the Competition Act. Competition, and the consumer benefits it delivers, is central to the case for lowering internal trade barriers. In today’s turbulent economic environment, competition considerations will inform many aspects of your work. We expect the Competition Bureau will continue bringing this lens to decisions on barriers that impede market efficiency. Our members would welcome opportunities to provide input whenever competition and foreign investment issues arise within your mandate.
Our Commodity Tax and Trade Section includes practitioners who advise on GST/HST, customs and excise matters—areas directly affected by divergent provincial rules. We can offer practical insight into how fiscal friction and administrative complexity slow interprovincial commerce and suggest avenues for harmonising tax treatment to support a barrier-free domestic market.
Our International Law Section monitors global best practices on regulatory cooperation and trade facilitation. Lessons from digital‑trade, services liberalization and mutual‑recognition arrangements abroad can help inform your efforts to modernize the Canadian Free Trade Agreement and related instruments.
Drawing on a broad corporate‑commercial perspective, the Business Law Section sees firsthand how internal barriers shape investment decisions, supply‑chain resilience and the competitiveness of Canadian enterprises. Our members can contribute business‑focused analysis on priorities such as streamlined corporate registration, labour‑mobility frameworks and procurement alignment.
Should it be helpful, we would be pleased to arrange a joint briefing or roundtable, at your convenience, to identify priority areas where CBA expertise can support your objectives. Please feel free to have your staff contact Noel Corriveau, Advocacy Lawyer at the CBA, at ncorriveau@cba.org, to coordinate next steps.
Yours sincerely,
(original letter signed by Noel Corriveau on behalf of the Section Chairs listed below)
Neil Campbell
Chair, Competition Law and Foreign Investment Review Section
Brent Murray
Chair, Commodity Tax and Trade Section
Laura James
Chair, Business Law Section
Sean Stephenson
Chair, International Law Section