The great provincial obstacle course

LAST year Don Dean, a logistics expert, set out to solve a mystery: why were oil and mining firms in Alberta buying heavy equipment from Asia, landing it in United States ports and bringing it in by motorway rather than using suppliers in Ontario? The answer, he discovered, is bureaucracy. Lorries carrying heavy loads in Canada need permits from each provincial government, municipality and utility company along the route. Ontario can take 27 weeks to issue one, says Mr Dean, who works for Prolog Canada, a consultancy. The journey on American roads requires just one licence.