TILMA: BC/Alberta Trade, Investment, and Labour Mobility Ag

[Oscar]

Legislation is just plain weird

http://www.straight.com/article-69961/l ... lain-weird.
By Terry Glavin

Publish Date: February 8, 2007

The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement has little to do with trade.

It may be one of the strangest cases of backroom dealing, silent deregulation, legislation by stealth, and contempt for the legislature in British Columbia’s history. It may be a brilliant move that will add $4.8 billion and 78,000 jobs to the B.C. economy.

It could just as well be an April Fools’ Day joke: it’s the B.C.–Alberta Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA). It was signed last April, and it’s supposed to come into effect this April 1. It has never been put before the B.C. legislature. Not even for review.

If it were a single piece of legislation, it would probably require an omnibus bill that you’d have trouble fitting into the back of a pickup truck. It will take at least two years to fully implement.

Despite its name, it actually has got practically nothing to do with trade.

That’s how weird it is.

In the advertising-agency language the B.C. and Alberta governments use to talk about the deal they cut, TILMA will create the second-largest economic region in Canada and provide workers and companies in both provinces with “seamless opportunities” in energy, transportation, labour mobility, business registration, and government procurement.

TILMA also appears to open up both provincial governments (and any government agency, including municipal governments and school boards) to corporate lawsuits over any regulation found to be “harmful” to investment.

Local government leaders across the province are scratching their heads in disbelief. The Council of Canadians is in such a twist it’s calling TILMA a tighter pair of handcuffs than the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Alberta’s then–minister of international and intergovernmental relations, Gary Mar, said during a speech in Richmond last June that the deal’s dispute-resolution mechanism granted “everything Canadian business asked for”. But the B.C. Federation of Labour, with perhaps tens of thousands of union members directly affected, didn’t get a chance to ask for anything. It didn’t even get a chance to look at the deal.

The funhouse-mirror effect the confusion has created has got B.C.’s minister of economic development, Colin Hansen, furiously writing letters to weekly newspapers across the province, trying to calm people down. Hansen’s usual routine is to say no, there are no weird black helicopters involved (or words to that effect), and that TILMA is a great thing, because the Conference Board of Canada says so.

It took nearly two years for the B.C. government to release an impact assessment of the deal. Just to make matters more opaque, the impact assessment is the same as the Conference Board report Hansen keeps referring to.

In other words, the work of assessing TILMA’s impact on the public interest in B.C. was subcontracted to the Conference Board, which is Canada’s national big-business lobby.

As for the claim of a $4.8-billion boost to B.C.’s gross domestic product and 78,000 new TILMA-created jobs, you’d be right if you guessed it came from the Conference Board report. But if you actually read the report, you’d still be guessing where they got those numbers.

The 46-page report is so outrageously verbose it’s funny, and it’s almost entirely speculative. The words It is expected that appear seven times in key sections, and to all appearances, TILMA’s precisely calculated anticipated windfall is just a thumbnail tally of the costs of “red tape” that a handful of corporate vice presidents complained about over a series of lunches down on Howe Street.

You could fairly say the report is one unsubstantiated claim after another, and it’s obvious that not even B.C.’s corporate sector took the Conference Board exercise seriously. The report is based on a mere two dozen surveys the board sent out: 13 to industry organizations and 11 to government ministries. And it only got 10 back. Industry groups filled out four surveys. Six came from government officials.

The industry responses were “very positive”. The government officials’ responses were “varied”, which seems to be Conference Board lingo for “scathing”. A snapshot of their responses: there are actually legitimate reasons for differences in standards and regulations between B.C. and Alberta; even industry isn’t convinced it’s a good deal; local businesses on the B.C.–Alberta border “may suffer losses”; the deal’s benefits “may not outweigh the costs”, even.

The Conference Board writes off these glum jims as mere bureaucrats who “harboured misperceptions that conflicted with other reliable data”. What is this other data? The report doesn’t say, unless what it’s referring to is the claim that TILMA will “provide more labour mobility between B.C. and Alberta after it is fully implemented”.

But what does this mean? The economic engine kicked into gear by B.C. workers rushing back and forth across the Rockies, trying to dodge drops in take-home pay from minimum-wage adjustments made to “reconcile” one province’s labour standards with the other’s?

Wait a minute. Here’s a massive problem TILMA will solve: Alberta requires energy companies doing business in the province to maintain offices and management staff there. This has “severely restricted the development of an oil and gas industry in B.C.”.

Swear to God. That’s what it says.

The New Democratic Party’s finance critic, Jenny Kwan, is forthright and refreshingly honest when you ask her questions about TILMA. She will tell you she doesn’t really know the answers.

“They signed this agreement behind closed doors,” Kwan told me the other day. “We were simply told the agreement had been signed and that it would come into effect within a year.”

Will TILMA kill local-hiring rules and ethical-purchasing policies? Will B.C. be permitted to keep its requirement that social workers have university degrees? Will the “investor clause” really allow businesses to sue governments—at the taxpayers’ expense—for regulations they don’t like? I could go on like this for hours.

“Colin Hansen should bring it to the legislature for a full debate,” Kwan said.

Indeed he should.

[Oscar]

Published in Wadena News on February 7, 2007

To the Editor:

. . . next year’s Biggest April Fools?

TILMA, the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement, comes into effect in Alberta and BC on April 1, making residents of those two provinces this year’s biggest April Fools.

TILMA, which will strip our ability to set local limits, is cleverly intended to ‘soften us up’ for the much larger agenda of DEEP INTEGRATION which is now a formal agreement between the three NAFTA partners, United States, Mexico and Canada – the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP).

The intent of the SPP is to ‘harmonize’ virtually every important area of public policy with the US: defence, foreign policy, energy (they get the security, we get greenhouse gases), culture, social policy, tax policy, drug testing and safety, and much more. To smooth the way toward ‘harmonization’ of Canadian public policy with the US requires massive deregulation across the country - much of that regulation being provincial and municipal over which Ottawa has no control. Enter TILMA!

When fully implemented, TILMA is a corporate dream come true, a smokescreen for a corporate agenda that seeks to substantially reduce the role of government as regulator and service provider.

It will allow legal challenges to the location and size of commercial signs, environmental set-backs for developers, zoning, building height restrictions, pesticide bans, and green space requirements in urban areas. It also could allow challenges to restrictions on private health clinics, halt stricter rules for nursing homes and almost certainly overturn the current ban on junk food in B.C. schools.

With respect to the environment, the Number One concern of Canadians, regulations regarding air quality are at risk, as are restrictions on tourist developments, the establishment of ecological reserves, the Agricultural Land Reserves and the authority of the Islands Trusts.

The promoters of this libertarian assault on government at local and provincial governments have a big head start. If the Saskatchewan Government, pressured by the Sask Party and Harper’s government, signs on to TILMA, (as they are currently considering doing), much of its ability to act in the public interest hangs in the balance.

. . .will we be next year’s biggest April Fools?

Elaine Hughes
Archerwill, SK

[Oscar]

sent for publishing on February 20, 2007

Editor;

. . . irrelevant regulations

In reporting on the recent FarmTech 2007 conference in Edmonton, Bill Strautman (Regulations hinder industry expansion, WP, Feb. 15.07), neglected to make the obvious connection between Owen McAuley’s agri-business presentation and the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA).

Apparently, Mr. McAuley finds our provincial and federal regulations irritating, stating that "These were (provincial) regulations put in place for good reason at the time they were put in. But once they're 20 years old, or sometimes five years old, maybe they're not relevant anymore." He also suggested that "...integrating Canadian with US and other country’s regulations may be a good first step.”

Enter TILMA. This corporate-friendly document, signed in secret last year by the BC and Alberta governments, without any consultation with residents in either province, and apparently without any legislative debate, comes into effect on April 1 (April Fool’s Day).

TILMA is essentially a long list of things governments will be prohibited from doing, for all time, regardless of who gets elected provincially or at the local government level, and, according to Todd Hirsch, Canada West Foundation, has the potential to erase “the provincial boundary for all purposes except voting and the colour of the license plate.”

For example, it may affect municipalities, school boards, nursing homes, crown corporations, private health clinics, regulations regarding air quality, restrictions on tourist developments, establishment of ecological reserves, the Agricultural Land Reserves, and the authority of the Islands Trusts.

Under TILMA, private investors can take their complaints to dispute panels, whose decisions will be binding, and may also file suit against any government regulation for a maximum of $5 million dollars! . . .with no limit on the number of challenges against the same regulation!

With their feet held to the fire by the Harper Government and by the Sask Party, Saskatchewan’s NDP government is also considering signing on to TILMA this spring.

If Saskatchewan residents don’t want to live under a corporate-driven, puppet government, now is the time to make our opposition to this backroom deal known – loud and clear.

Elaine Hughes
Archerwill, SK

[Oscar]

PRESS RELEASE – February 28, 2007

WYNYARD, SK - Council of Canadians Urges Public Awareness

Trade Agreements. They affect us all - Urban and Rural, at a Municipal level, Provincial level, National level, and Globally. They create deregulation policies that ratchet levels of standardization toward the lowest possible denominator!

These are some concerns and assertions made by the speakers to a small but attentive audience at the Information Meeting held by the recently formed Quill Plains Chapter of the Council of Canadians on February 24 in Wynyard, SK.

Lyn Gorman, Prairie Organizer of the Council of Canadians, spoke on ENERGY and the dangers inherent in the present day frantic rush to extract oil from the Alberta tarsands, as well as concerns regarding the madness surrounding the expansion of the Nuclear Industry. Currently, under NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the USA gets 70% of the oil extracted from the tarsands in northern Alberta. As such, even if it cannot fill its own needs for oil, Canada cannot decrease this amount. Further, there has not been an accumulated impact environmental study on this development, and until this is done, a moratorium is urgently needed!

In closing, Lyn suggested that whatever is currently happening in the Alberta tarsands, we can likely expect the same to happen in Saskatchewan’s tarsands. There is an urgency for the public to inform themselves. Our planet earth and our grandchildren will experience the real consequences of this out-of-control development.

Marvin Meickel of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour described the complexities of TILMA, the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement. This backroom, corporate-friendly scheme, was signed in April 2006 by the Premier Campbell of BC and former Premier Klein of Alberta, without any legislation and without knowledge of the public and many MLAs.

TILMA comes into effect in BC and Alberta on April 1 (April Fool’s Day) 2007. Once in effect, it will accelerate the lowering of standards of both provinces, a process that already has been initiated under NAFTA. For example, regulations affecting all levels of government - provincial, local, municipal, school boards, and nursing homes - will be ‘harmonized’ so as to not give preference to any local hiring or services already successfully being carried out. Dissension will not be tolerated. And, any disputes will be handled by an independent panel with power to penalize governments with fines as high as $5 million dollars for any violations, and governments can be hit with repeated complaints against the same program or regulation.

Now, Premier Calvert is being pressured by the Harper government and the Sask Party to also join. Marvin urged the public to inform themselves, tell their friends and neighbours about TILMA, and encourage them to phone or write letters to their MLAs, telling them that this is a BAD DEAL and that we don’t want it in our province.

More information:

Lyn Gorman, Prairie Organizer, Council of Canadians: 1-877-729-4500

Marvin Meickel, Saskatchewan Federation of Labour: 1-306-924-8571

“Not to do is not a choice “

“Never doubt that a small group of informed, concerned citizens can make a difference“.

Quill Plains Chapter contacts:

Marilyn Gillis at 306-554-2791 or

Bill Curry at 306-554-2985

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[Oscar]

Published in Western Producer march 08, 2007

Editor;

. . . secretly signed

In reporting on the recent FarmTech 2007 conference in Edmonton, Bill Strautman (Regulations hinder industry expansion, WP, Feb. 15.07), neglected to make the obvious connection between Owen McAuley’s agri-business presentation and the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA).

Apparently, Mr. McAuley finds our provincial and federal regulations irritating, stating that "These were (provincial) regulations put in place for good reason at the time they were put in. But once they're 20 years old, or sometimes five years old, maybe they're not relevant anymore." He also suggested that "...integrating Canadian with US and other country’s regulations may be a good first step.”

Enter TILMA. This corporate-friendly document, signed in secret last year by the BC and Alberta governments, without any consultation with residents in either province, and apparently without any legislative debate, comes into effect on April 1 (April Fool’s Day).

TILMA is essentially a long list of things governments will be prohibited from doing, for all time, regardless of who gets elected provincially or at the local government level, and, according to Todd Hirsch, Canada West Foundation, has the potential to erase “the provincial boundary for all purposes except voting and the colour of the license plate.”

For example, it may affect municipalities, school boards, nursing homes, crown corporations, private health clinics, regulations regarding air quality, restrictions on tourist developments, establishment of ecological reserves, the Agricultural Land Reserves, and the authority of the Islands Trusts.

Under TILMA, private investors can take their complaints to dispute panels, whose decisions will be binding, and may also file suit against any government regulation for a maximum of $5 million dollars! . . .with no limit on the number of challenges against the same regulation!

With their feet held to the fire by the Harper Government and by the Sask Party, Saskatchewan’s NDP government is also considering signing on to TILMA this spring. If Saskatchewan residents don’t want to live under a corporate-driven, puppet government, now is the time to make our opposition to this backroom deal known – loud and clear.

Elaine Hughes
Archerwill, SK

[Oscar]

Published in Wadena News June 6, 2007

Dear Editor

….more to TILMA than meets the eye

Several months ago, when we first became aware of TILMA, that corporate-friendly, backroom Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement secretly signed by the BC and Alberta premiers in 2006, it looked like a fairly innocent bit of ‘politics’.

Of course, the Sask Party, in lock-step with the Bush and Harper governments, is pressuring the Saskatchewan NDP Government to also sign on to TILMA - because it will be so good for all of us!

However, we have learned more about the potential negative impact on our important social policies and programs, and it is increasingly worrisome, if not downright scary.

For instance, when TILMA is initially signed, it has an impressive list of exceptions, so there is ‘nothing for us to worry about’.

Keeping in mind that a ‘measure’ is any legislation, regulation, standard, directive, requirement, guideline, program, policy, administrative practice or other procedure, some of these exceptions are: measures relating to Aboriginal peoples; our water; our social policies including labour standards and codes, social assistance benefits, and workers compensation; and the management or conservation of forests, fish and wildlife.

We now know that Article 17 of TILMA requires a committee to “review annually the exceptions listed…with a view to reducing their scope” and that “ongoing efforts will continue to reduce exceptions”. Over time, the list of exceptions will shrink, eventually bringing them all into the full Agreement!

We also know that “if a measure is not clearly identified as an exception, it is subject to the rules of the Agreement”, and since health and education measures are not included in the list of exceptions, does this not put them at tremendous risk?

There’s more to TILMA than meets the eye . . . to save our country, we must tell Premier Calvert to say “NO” to TILMA!


Elaine Hughes
Archerwill, SK

[Oscar]

Published June 07, 2007 in Saskatoon Star Phoenix

Published by Global Researach.ca on June 9, 2007:
http://www.globalresearch.ca:80/index.p ... a&aid=5924

Dear Editor:

TILMA laying foundation for North American Union

Most folks by now have heard about TILMA – the corporate-friendly Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement between Alberta and British Columbia that came into effect this April Fool’s Day. Its mandate is to ‘harmonize’ regulations and standards between the two provinces, removing so-called barriers to economic development. The Opposition currently is pressuring the Saskatchewan government to sign on, too.

Meanwhile, Agrivision’s plans continue for Saskatchewan’s Smart Inland Port – where trucks and containers will be dispatched, loaded with our raw materials via Vancouver or Prince Rupert to factories in Asia that has plentiful and cheap labour.

They will also move n the NAFTA Corridor that connects non-unionized ports in Mexico, through another inland port in Kansas City, to Winnipeg and other crossings, to deliver to Canadian stores finished goods from China and India. A similar scheme, ATLANTICA, is in progress, using ports at Montreal and Halifax.

The next step in the underground process of Canada’s ‘deep integration’ with the United States is another closed-door meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), this time in August near Montreal.

Driven by the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), an un-elected group of CEOs from Wal-Mart, Lockheed Martin, Manulife Financial, Chevron and Suncor Energy, to name just a few, SPP’s job is to decide the future of Canada and to draft government policy towards the final step in NAFTA – the North American Union.

That’s the ultimate goal for a seamless, borderless free-trade entity that joins Canada, Mexico and the US in a common economic body, so that the aforementioned ‘stakeholders’ continue to accumulate wealth. By using TILMA, they hope to ‘harmonize’ provincial regulations and soften up Canadians before this final move.

Want to save Canada? Tell Premier Calvert to reject TILMA.

Elaine Hughes
Archerwill, SK

=========================

Saskatchewan Says BC-Alberta Trade Deal is Flawed: Province Will Not Join TILMA

MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2, 2007

Vancouver - After months of debate, the Saskatchewan government decided yesterday that it would not join the Trade Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) with BC and Alberta. Citing the agreement's broad scope and unanswered questions, the government assessed that signing on had too many risks for the province.

TILMA was signed by the premiers of Alberta and BC, without public consultation or legislative debate, in April 2006. The agreement allows corporations and individuals to sue provincial governments for any provincial or municipal government measure they feel "restricts or impairs" their investment. Under TILMA, even measures designed to protect the environment and public health are vulnerable to attack from corporate lawsuits with compensation penalties as high as $5 million.

Saskatchewan's announcement comes as Colin Hansen, BC's Minister of Economic Development attempts to justify TILMA's far-ranging implications to municipalities. The Ministry is scrambling to 'consult' with municipalities, dozens of whom have raised serious questions about the agreement's impacts on local autonomy and will vote on excluding municipalities from the agreement in early fall at the Union of BC Municipalities AGM.

"Once elected officials get the chance to read through TILMA, they realize that it is more like a corporate bill of rights than an agreement to enhance trade and labour mobility," says Carleen Pickard, BC/Yukon Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians.

"Unlike in British Columbia and Alberta, the government of Saskatchewan actually consulted academics, experts and citizens and concluded that TILMA is a bad deal. It is time for Minister Hansen to accept that, stop forcing it on BC's municipalities, and withdraw from the Agreement."

-30-

For more information, contact:
Carleen Pickard, 604.340.2455; cpickard@canadians.org.

For more information about TILMA, visit Canadians.Org.

======================================

Other Articles:

SASKATCHEWAN ANNOUNCES AGENDA FOR INTERNAL TRADE - Government Press Release: August 1, 2007
http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=ebd5e9bd-7b8e-46ca-9e3a-e738abef91a7


Sask. won't join Alberta-B.C. trade deal - CBC: August 1, 2007
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2007/08/01/tilma-saskatchewan.html

Sask. won't sign on to accord - Leader Post: August 2, 2007
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/ ... 5446a88f7d

Business groups say rejecting TILMA outright short-sighted - Leader Post: August 03, 2007
http://www.canada.com:80/reginaleaderpo ... 9ad2497d49


TILMA: A Saskatchewan Party government could seek agreement with BC-Alberta after April 1, 2009; media reports continue to mislead public - Owls and Roosters Blog - Joe Kuchta: August 3, 2007
http://owlsandroosters.blogspot.com/200 ... nment.html

Calvert wary of 'back door' - Leader Post: August 4, 2007
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/ ... a381de4da6

Little variation in themes - Star Phoenix: August 4, 2007
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoe ... 7c39abf5a1


Premiers to tackle labour mobility and other issues at N.B. meeting
- CANOE - CNEws - August 7, 2007
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007 ... 00234.html\


TILMA boosters come up short - The Leader-Post - August 09, 2007
http://www.canada.com:80/reginaleaderpo ... 287d3ad04c

[Oscar]

WESTERN PROVINCES OPEN JOINT TRADE AND INVESTMENT OFFICE IN SHANGHAI

http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=5c7156 ... 716e525f80

News Release - May 17, 2010

The Premiers of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan today opened the new Shanghai-based Western Canada Trade and Investment Office, advancing Western Canada's interests and bolstering economic ties in China.

The Western Canada Trade and Investment Office will promote Western Canada's advanced industries including green technology, natural resources, agri-food and agriculture. It will also represent the three provinces in a number of other priority sectors, including education, tourism and investment attraction. Shanghai was selected, as it is China's trade and financial hub, the world's second busiest port and has a population of more than 20 million people.

"Alberta has been at the forefront of Canada-China relations since the 1960s and we continue to seek new alliances in the region," Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said. "The Shanghai office gives us an expanded presence as well as an ability to better serve our network of business partners and investors in this crucial market."

The joint office is part of the New West Partnership's commitment to collaborate on cost-effective international initiatives, including sharing resources in international markets. The co-operative marketing model of the Shanghai office will allow the three western provinces to better position the West as the hub of economic activity on this side of the Pacific. Working together, the provinces will be more effective in advancing joint business interests, exchanging market intelligence and increasing business competitiveness.

"Saskatchewan, and the West, has what the world wants and needs," Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said. "The economies of the New West Partnership are among the most robust and diversified you will find anywhere. We are making it as easy as possible for investors to do business in the West, and to pursue opportunities which only exist here."

"British Columbia is pleased to partner with Saskatchewan and Alberta in promoting Western Canada's advantages to Chinese investors and partners," British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell said. "British Columbia already operates three of its own trade and investment offices in China and the new Shanghai office will help build on our position as Canada's Pacific Gateway."

The Premiers are on a joint mission to China and Japan, to promote trade and investment opportunities along with the West's geographic and infrastructure advantages, including the multi-modal Pacific Gateway and Corridor transportation system. The three Premiers are also promoting open skies agreements and open trade with the Asia Pacific region.

-30-

For more information, contact:

Rebeca Rogoschewsky
Executive Council
Regina
Phone: 306-787-0980

Cam Hantiuk
Alberta Office of the Premier
Edmonton
Phone: 780-422-4924

Bridgitte Anderson
BC Office of the Premier
Victoria, BC
Phone: 604-307-7177