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Contact your local mayor or city councilThe Alberta-B.C. Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) went into effect on April 1, 2007 but opposition to the far-reaching pact continues to grow thanks to intense local action from chapter activists. One enormously successful tactic has been to consult municipal governments directly on the dangers TILMA poses to their ability to govern in the public interest. Andrew Murray, chair of the New Westminster Council of Canadians, appeared before city council to express his concerns about TILMA. As reported in the New Westminster Record, Murray told council about TILMA's downward pressure on regulations and restrictions on local procurement policies. “This deal was done behind closed doors... There was no consultation,” he told council. Murray also found an ally in local councillor Bill Harper. "[TILMA] has quite a broad scope to it," Harper told the newspaper. "There's a whole series of areas that are unknown to us in terms of how this particular agreement ... applies to us." Bill Harper's concerns are now widespread among municipalities in B.C. and Alberta. The threat to democracy, and the complete lack of an economic case for signing TILMA, motivated the Government of Saskatchewan to reject the agreement in 2007. After a long public consultation on the issue, Saskatchewan decided that the costs of so-called inter-provincial trade barriers were being exagerated and that the province could not afford to sign TILMA. The Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) has also put out a report critical of TILMA's impact on local democracy. Based on concerns raised by citizens with various city councils, the UBCM would like TILMA's general exceptions expanded to cover land use regulation. The organization also wants to negotiate with the B.C. government "to prohibit the Province from requiring local governments to either pay penalties for or repeal constitutionally valid measures that are found by dispute panels to be in breach of the TILMA." Furthermore, the UBCM wants to negotiate amendments to TILMA's very business-friendly dispute resolution process, "including a provision that protects against vexatious or frivolous claims." If you live outside of Alberta and B.C., it is still crucial to inform your local municipal leaders about the dangers of TILMA. It's as as easy as printing off this draft resolution (PDF) and showing it to your local city councillor or mayor, along with a few Council of Canadians fact sheets. Working together, we can build a strong grassroots movement against this far-reaching agreement. The importance of bringing municipalities into the struggle is not limited to B.C. and Alberta. Almost every province in Canada has shown some interest in signing TILMA and, as was the case in Alberta and B.C., they will likely not consult with municipalities before doing so – even if agreement severely undermines local democracy. For instance, the premiers of Ontario and Quebec have launched trade talks that will wrap up in early 2008. Like with TILMA, the goal is to knock down the so-called barriers to inter-provincial trade. And like TILMA, there have been no public consultations scheduled. This is unacceptable. We must pressure provincial and municipal leaders in both provinces to bring the public into the debate now – not after a TILMA-like agreement has been signed in private. Local governments across Canada need to know what their provinces have planned for them. They need to demand that they be consulted before signing away the ability to govern in the best interests of their local communities. LINKS
For more information about TILMA, and for ideas on how to fight it, contact the Council of Canadians at 1-800-387-7177 or email inquiries@canadians.org. |
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updated
December 19, 2007
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