You might be excused for not noticing the premiers' agreement on labour market mobility at last week's meeting of the Council of the Federation. Scant media attention gets paid to what might seem to be mundane matters of public policy or government pronouncements that actually constitute good news. But it was one of the more important public policy developments in Canada in some time for at least two reasons.

First, it proves the council is more than a photo op and a forum for provincial complaints about Ottawa. It can be a mechanism for developing policies of national scope in areas of provincial jurisdiction. And that's important since, in the absence of a federal government legitimized to do so, it's the only mechanism we have.

Second, it's a small but necessary step toward making the adjustments needed to be more competitive. We live in a world where political and economic alliances are creating larger markets. Those larger markets create more internal competition, forcing everyone to raise their standards - developing the skill sets necessary to both succeed internationally and fend off incursions by foreign competitors.

And that's what's going to happen in Canada as a result of the labour mobility agreement. Every part of our country will now have access to a larger skilled labour pool. But, because, those skills will have to be competitive on a national rather than just a provincial scale, logic dictates they will be improved.

Even though the provinces had been working on this agreement for 13 years, it's worth singling out Premier Gordon Campbell for his leadership on this issue. He has established a reputation as a leader among the premiers, arguably a first for British Columbia. Credit also needs to be directed to a silent partner to this agreement - Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who steadfastly maintained he would be happy to attend a First Ministers' meeting once premiers demonstrated an ability to accomplish something among themselves.

But recent events may have provided some impetus as well. Our free trade discussions with the European Union stalled in May in part because of European concerns about the provincial balkanization of the Canadian economy. Summarizing those concerns, Premier Campbell stated, "it's hard to have free trade with Canada when you don't even have free trade within Canada."

We'd do well to heed the European experience, where a global powerhouse was built by increase the size of a domestic market while eliminating barriers within it. Europeans have a different ethic. Unlike Canadians, they don't take their wealth for granted. They've had to debate how to create it - reaching compromises along the way. It's a continent where four countries, speaking four different languages agreed to build an airplane together - the Airbus - just a generation after being at war with one another. Recognizing an Ontario teaching certificate in Alberta seems rather insignificant by comparison.

But, in Canada, we have no such tradition. Instead, we debate whether to distribute or redistribute by region or class the wealth of the ground we happen to live on. And much of that wealth has come from charging foreign interests rent to exploit those natural resources. But as those resources continue to deplete (and the richer ones are compromised by environmental concerns) we need to be careful we don't act like a nation of landlords, driving slowly in the left lane with no particular destination in mind - oblivious to the object in our rear view mirror that is getting larger. It's the future and it will pass us by.

Bob Russell, a businessman and former civil servant, was chief of staff for the provincial Liberals in Alberta from 1986 to 1989. In 2004, he ran for the federal Liberal nomination in Saanich-Gulf Islands.