ACTION ALERT: Tell Premier McGuinty not to sign a TILMA with Quebec

May 28, 2008

On June 2, 2008, the Dalton McGuinty will meet with Jean Charest for a joint Ontario-Quebec cabinet meeting in Quebec City. There are indications that the two premiers will sign a new inter-provincial trade pact modeled on the Alberta-B.C. Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement. Premier McGuinty has also indicated his interest in signing TILMA with Alberta and B.C. We need to tell him that Ontarians want him to steer clear of both options.

There is widespread opposition to TILMA out west, particularly from municipal governments who recognize that the agreement will curtail their ability to pass legislation and make rules in the public interest. TILMA was recently called unconstitutional by trade lawyer Steven Shrybman because it penalizes local and provincial governments for exercising their constitutional duty to pass legislation that suits their communities.

Saskatchewan decided not to sign TILMA after extensive public consultations convinced the government it was dangerous and unnecessary. A TILMA-like agreement between Ontario and Quebec would be disastrous for our health, the environment and local democracy by making all sorts of government policies vulnerable to corporate lawsuits that can result in fines as high as $5 million.

That’s why the Council of Canadians has sent a letter to Premier McGuinty urging him not to sign any new agreement with Quebec that remotely resembles TILMA.

For more information on TILMA, visit our website here www.canadians.org/DI/issues/TILMA/index.html.

To see the letter we sent to Premier McGuinty on May 26, go to www.canadians.org/DI/issues/TILMA/McGuintyLetter-May2008.pdf.

TAKE ACTION

While we don’t know for sure what McGuinty and Charest will announce at their joint cabinet meeting on June 2, it is crucial that the Ontario Premier realize that voters will not tolerate an Ontario-Quebec TILMA.

Activists are encouraged to send a copy of the following letter to the Premier (http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/default.asp) and their local MPP. Two further MPPs worth targeting are Sandra Pupatello (http://www.ontariocanada.com/ontcan/en/misc/minmemo2.jsp), minister of economic development and trade, and Jim Watson (http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page350.aspx), minister of municipal affairs and housing, whose files would be drastically impacted by TILMA.

Simply click on those links to go to an online form for sending letters to the respective ministers; or use the form below. For a list of Ontario MPPs, visit www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_current.do?locale=en.

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SEND YOUR LETTER NOW:

Subject
Recipient	dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org; jwatson.mpp@liberal.ola.org; spupatello.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Compose your letter in the box below.
Dear Premier McGuinty, It is my understanding that you are considering signing an agreement with Quebec that may closely resemble the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) between Alberta and British Columbia. This would be a monumental error with disastrous implications for public health, the environment and democracy. There is a lot of political rhetoric out there about the impact of inter-provincial trade barriers on the economy. There is far less proof that such barriers exist, or that they are having an effect on inter-provincial trade. What few barriers might exist can and should be amended politically – not in legal documents like TILMA that essentially enshrine corporate rights above democratic rights. TILMA places enormous constraints on the otherwise lawful duty of provincial and municipal governments to enact legislation and draft regulations in the public interest. It does this by stipulating that there should be “no obstacles” to the free flow of trade, investment and labour mobility between provinces, and by establishing a legal process, borrowed from NAFTA but much more inclusive, that treats all government policy – including municipal government, school board and health authority decisions – as a potentially veiled barriers to cross-border trade. This process has been called unconstitutional by trade lawyer Steven Shrybman, “by imposing financial penalties and other sanctions on the province for the lawful actions of governments and other public bodies… [and] by empowering ad hoc arbitral tribunals to adjudicate private claims concerning the otherwise lawful actions of government and other public bodies.” There is no evidence that TILMA, or a TILMA-like agreement between Ontario and Quebec, will be able to safeguard from corporate challenges policies aimed at protecting the environment or public health. While a provincial government can claim it is pursuing a legitimate objective by enacting this or that environmental policy, that government claim is precisely what TILMA’s dispute process is designed to test. Under TILMA, the government is constantly required to prove that its measures are not the least restrictive to trade possible – a near impossible task considering the record of NAFTA decisions against national governments on matters of environmental protection. Are you prepared to pay $5 million in compensation each time a TILMA panel rules against a provincial or municipal rule or law that is otherwise a completely justified public health or environmental precaution? Another hazardous part of TILMA is its requirement that municipal and provincial governments harmonize their regulations across borders. Municipal governments with higher standards will be in a position where the provincial government must defend them in front of TILMA dispute panels who are mandated to rule in favour of more liberalized trade, and who must be convinced that the measure is not the least restrictive to trade and investment (i.e., profits) possible. This will lead to the downward harmonization of all sorts of standards designed to protect our health and the environment. For these and many other reasons, the government of Saskatchewan decided last year not to sign TILMA. It just didn’t make sense for Saskatchewan and it doesn’t make sense for Ontario. We realize that you and Quebec Premier Jean Charest have yet to announce a trade pact similar to TILMA. But based on media reports we are concerned that it will be on the agenda for your June 2 joint cabinet meeting in Quebec City. Again, we urge you not to sign any agreement that resembles TILMA, specifically one that might include TILMA’s lopsided dispute resolution process and its requirement that governments mutually recognize standards and regulations. Sincerely,
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