| HOME | ABOUT US | CAMPAIGNS | MEDIA | PUBLICATIONS | CHAPTERS | JOIN US | FRANÇAIS |
|
Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA)INTERPROVINCIAL INVESTOR RIGHTS ARE AN IMPRACTICAL JOKE: 
State of Play: Canada’s Internal Free Trade Agenda (PDF 139kb) Portrait de la situation : Le plan de travail du Canada en matière de libre- Today (March 31, 2009), just one day before the BC/Alberta Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) goes into full effect, the Council of Canadians launched a new report by expert trade lawyer Steven Shrybman concluding that TILMA, other similar agreements currently in development, and the recent changes to the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) will only further deregulate provincial policies that protect communities and the environment and threaten public services. The report, titled 'State of Play: Canada’s Internal Free Trade Agenda’ provides an update on TILMA and the state of various trade agreements between Ontario and Quebec (OQEPA), Nova Scotia, New Brunswick (PARE) and Saskatchewan (so-called Economic Partnership with BC and Alberta) and challenges the need for these agreements in the first place. It is being simultaneously released by the Council of Canadians on March 31 at press conferences in Halifax, Moncton, Ottawa, Toronto, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver. The seven press conference included community and labour leaders from each province, each expressing local concerns with the deregulating agenda of the federal government. Read the report here » Joined by CUPE president Paul Moist, expert trade lawyer Steven Shrybman and CUPW Vice President George Floresco, Director of Organizing Carleen Pickard highlighted that, “We’ve been asking the governments where the actual barriers are that they claim exist. TILMA is a barrier to democracy and handing over public policy decisions to corporate interests is more than a bad joke. These kinds of agreements should not be allowed to continue.” The press release from the Moncton event can be read here » (PDF 83kb) The press release from the Ottawa event can be read here » The press release from the Toronto event can be read here » (PDF 146kb) The press release from the Regina event can be read here » (PDF 70kb) The press release from the Calgary event can be read here » (PDF 70kb) The press release from the Vancouver event can be read here » (PDF 93kb) Putting investors first and the public last On April 1, 2007, a new free trade pact went into effect between Alberta and B.C. It's called the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) and it will have a devastating effect on local democracy, public health and the environment. While currently confined to Western Canada, provincial governments in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and the Maritimes have all shown an interest in signing on, or in developing their own regional versions of TILMA. The Harper government has also been pressuring the provinces to sign TILMA, which makes this a fight we have to wage locally, provincially and nationally.
PHOTO: Carleen Pickard, the Council of Canadian's BC regional organizer, along with Council chapter members from Whistler, Nanaimo and local activists who gathered on May 10, 2007 to leaflet the Lower Mainland Local Government Association delegates prior to voting on 4 TILMA resolutions. TILMA was signed by the premiers of Alberta and B.C., without public consultation or legislative debate, in April 2006. The agreement allows corporations and individuals to challenge any provincial or municipal government measure they feel "restricts or impairs" their investment (i.e. their profits). Even measures designed to protect the environment and public health can be brought to an unelected TILMA dispute panel with the authority to impose penalties as high as $5 million. |
FEATURESIn this section: VIDEO: The Council fights TILMA in Alberta [01-Apr-08] BC residents find no interprovincial trade barriers at BC- Alberta border Municipal Committee Resource Sheet on TILMA and the SPP as major threats to democracy in Canada (PDF), March 2008, by the Canadian Union of Public Employees ACTION ALERT: Tell Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to forget about TILMA Ontario Nurses tell McGuinty to reject TILMA-like agreement with Quebec Provincial trade barriers? What provincial trade barriers? Globe and Mail, Murray Dobbin, January 11, 2008 Trade barriers a non-issue, Times & Transcript (Moncton), Stuart Trew, December 11, 2007 ACTION ALERT: Demand a full debate on TILMA in the B.C. legislature
|
||||
|
TILMA was not debated by either the Alberta or B.C. legislatures, and municipalities and other local governments weren't even consulted before it was signed. In fact, cities and towns across B.C. and Alberta only learned after the fact how much democratic control they will lose under TILMA, and many are fighting to have municipal government action exempt from the agreement's dangerously broad reach. We know that other provinces have shown an interest in signing TILMA. The 2007 federal budget plugged the agreement by name and that the Conservatives see it as inspiration for a renewed push to harmonize provincial regulations across Canada -- and possibly beyond. And at the last Council of the Federation meeting, Canada's premiers agreed to explore the idea of implementing TILMA's undemocratic dispute resolution process nationally into the Agreement on Internal Trade. Furthermore, some U.S. states have shown an interest in signing TILMA, which would lead to massive deregulation in Canada, as we harmonize policies with the United States. TILMA thus becomes an issue of democracy and of deep integration with the U.S. Opposition to the far-reaching free trade pact continues to grow thanks to effective local action from chapter activists in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. One enormously successful tactic has been to speak with municipal governments directly about the dangers of TILMA. Citizens in Alberta and B.C. have also targeted their MLAs to demand the provincial governments tear up TILMA. Check out any of the resources below for more information about TILMA and how you can fight it locally, provincially and nationaly. Features
Also in this section |
||||||
 |
updated
March 31, 2009
|
|||||
