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Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA)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: [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
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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
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updated
April 1, 2008
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