Analysis of TILMA for OFL

An analysis of TILMA done for OFL (Ontario Federation of Labor) can be downloaded at this site as a Pdf document.

Here is an excerpt showing TILMA's effects on public policy etc.

VI. TILMA’s Chilling Effects on Public Policy, Law and Action
Another important consequence of empowering individuals and companies to invoke dispute
resolution under TILMA is that doing so negates the political, strategic and economic
constraints that may temper a province’s inclination to seek recourse to formal dispute
resolution. Provinces will have an incentive to seek a balanced interpretation of TILMA rules
because they must also observe them. Private parties, on the other hand, have no obligations
under TILMA, and are therefore free of the moderating influence of having reciprocal
obligations.39
The notoriety, cost, and potential liability associated with complaints and potential damage
awards are likely to produce a “chill” over the development of domestic policy and law.
Moreover, the inclination of governments to engage in self-censorship to avoid such risks is
accentuated because the parameters of TILMA obligations are ill-defined, often unprecedented,
dispute has been
brought concerning these investment rules - http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/tna-nac/NAFTA-en.asp.
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and at the mercy of panel interpretations that may reject the views of other panels on the same
question.
In fact, the threat of investor-state litigation under NAFTA investment rules continues to exert a
chilling influence over such diverse public policy initiatives as plain packaging regulations for
cigarettes, public automobile insurance, and even the future of Medicare. As pointed out by a
prominent Canadian trade lawyer in a report prepared for the Romanow Commission, investorstate
claims are now an obstacle to expanding the publicly funded health care system.40 TILMA
is likely to have similar effects and for the same reasons.