Recently, international trade has been growing over 10% per year, while interprovincial trade has been growing less than 5% per year, contributing to the pervasive thought that north-south trade ties are stronger than east-west. While this is cause for pause, it is not entirely accurate.

In absolute terms, it is often the case that the United States consumes more of what we produce than we do. Ontario's automobile industry is just one example. However, when you adjust for market size and distance, provinces are 12 to 22 times more likely to trade with another province than an American state . The point is that it is misleading to compare absolute trade between Quebec and New York with trade between Quebec and PEI - market size matters. But so do borders.

East-west trade is vibrant and strong in comparative terms, but the framework could be improved. Support for the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) and official recognition of interprovincial trade successes could go a long way to changing perceptions and supporting unity. It is intuitive that interprovincial trade promotes Canadian unity, and uni.ca highlights the following thoughts, in no particular order:

1. Interdependence: as we trade with each other, we become more dependent on each other. As a simple natural resources example, Ontario needs the Prairies for grain which needs the Maritimes for fish which needs different fish from BC, etc. We eventually get into a situation where cooperation is not just helpful, it is necessary to continue our way of life. These are the ties that really bind.

2. Functionalism: as we work with each other, we discover both the value of cooperation and new ways to cooperate. Decision-makers learn over time, and the extent of cooperation expands (politicians have to do a bit more homework, but the general dynamic holds in the medium- to long-term).

3. Financial wealth: a more efficient economy with appropriate barriers to the free movement of goods, services, and people, will increase our wealth. This brings more money to be devoted to health care, the environment, Unity Plan A, etc. Wealthier societies, with a fair distribution across society, are generally happier and have less incentive to pursue secession and other divisive issues.

4. Quality of life convergence: an important nuance of absolute wealth expansion, as we trade with each other, we gain access to similar levels and types of consumption. There are less income and quality of life differences and their connected national stresses.

5. National economic identity: each of the above contributes to a sense that we are all in it together. Those in the national system share a special connection that is not shared with those outside. Financial, supplier, and consumer ties flow through our day-to-day lives towards a national societal identity. There is also a related concept that may be instructive: cosmogeneity.

Cosmogeneity: The third complement to what was once seen as a dichotomy between homogeneity and heterogeneity. Cosmogeneity is an expansion of diversity through the constructive synthesis of previously atomistic and heterogeneous entities.

Some of the greatest attacks on international trade are related to cultural and social homogenization, the smoothing away of difference so that we all become the same. This is also a concern in relation to interprovincial trade.

The root of this fear is a belief that there are only two states: heterogeneity and homogeneity. You move from one towards the other. However, this is not the full realm of all possibilities. There can also be cosmogeneity. Consider the following thought:

     There is a blue society and a yellow society.
     They were separate, but now interact.
     The possible outcomes are:

1. They remain distinct, yellow and blue.      Heterogeneity;
2. They both become yellow.                         Homogeneity;
3. They both become blue.                            Homogeneity;
4. Together, they both become green.         Cosmogeneity;

Greenness from afar, on closer inspection, could reveal individual dots of yellow and blue and all shades of green. There is not only the possibility of retaining identity or changing to the other, but also new blended choices. There is creation.

At the conceptual level, cosmogeneity is appealing. It seems to describe some of what is happening in Canada. However, it does assume a few things, particularly that there is equal power or opportunity amongst the agents. This is not always the case. If cosmogeneity is held as an ideal, societal evolution would need to be managed to better approximate a level playing field.

Importantly, in the context of evaluating interprovincial trade, there is a conceptual way out of the homogeneity threat. This is also a new way of thinking about Canadian identity and society. Our history, present, and future is uniquely relevant to this type of concept. Our nationalism is inclusive and open, looking outwards as a building block to our global citizenship, as an active cosmonationalism. In this regard, as it is so in many other ways, Canada serves as a model for the world.

In the early stages of a cultural interchange, one-sided domination is often prominent. Canada is much further along the path towards cosmogeneity. Canadians have access to a near limitless variety of lifestyle choice. We have an evolving universe of blends, of new collective and individual identity choices. Our society is more than homogeneity - our sameness can be based on our diversity. "Unity in diversity", that is the grand Canadian oxymoron that speaks to the complexity and richness of our past and future.

AIT Good, Make it Better

Now, back to the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT). The AIT promotes interprovincial trade. With cosmogeneity as one of the first qualifiers, interprovincial trade can, in turn, promote a just unity. In the interests of unity, the following may improve the AIT:

1. Institutionalize a principle of "upward ratchet" of standards. Instead of a race to the bottom in health, safety, and labour standards, we should acknowledge this potentially negative dynamic and proactively move against it.

   Why should we live in a Canada where the safety standards are higher in one province than another? If a province has identified a new health threat or a way of dealing with it, they should tell the rest of us and we should listen. If they are misreading the situation or remedy, we should tell them - publicly and loudly.

   When harmonization of standards is motivated by easing interprovincial trade, it should generally be towards higher standards based on strong rationales. There should also be a tendency towards national standards from bottom-up initiatives;

2. Make dispute settlement outcomes enforceable. There are several ways to do this, but something must change immediately. Currently, it is only moral suasion and public relations that makes a province abide by a ruling of the AIT;

3. Make the observance and active promotion of the AIT an important part of the monitoring functions of the Ombudsman of the Confederation and an element of the Confederation Audit discussed in Section 2: Federal-Provincial Relations;

4. The public and private sectors should better communicate the value of the AIT and the state of interprovincial trade. Canadian politicians and corporations jump at every chance to trumpet trade successes with other countries - they should be encouraged to let us know about the great things going on in our own country;

5. Put the federal government and the provinces on the spot for their commitment to the AIT and identify a primary champion. This is connected to 4), but it is worth emphasizing that this extremely important agreement could die of neglect. Perhaps the federal government should be the prime champion. Would this make it worse? Perhaps this role is better played by the Ombudsman of the Confederation. Someone has to take responsibility for it - instead of too many cooks spoiling the broth, too many sous chefs are withholding ingredients.