BC Municipalities reject TILMA

This is from this site. It is not surprising that the municipalities should be upset about TILMA since Alberta and BC negotiated it without even consulting the municipalities. Of course the whole SPP business is done behind closed doors but often with the CEOs of big North AMerican companies as an advisory group the NACC.


BC municipalities reject TILMA
Posted by Marc Lee under TILMA, BC.
September 26th, 2007
Comments: none

This week in Vancouver, the annual meetings of the Union of BC Municipalities are talking TILMA. The BC government signed the deal without consulting municipalities, and it is now in effect. Over the next two years, however, municipalities have an opportunity to seek exemptions from the agreement, although their appeals would go to Economic Development Minister Colin Hansen who would then have to negotiate on their behalf with his Alberta counterpart. If no deal is reached, the full force of TILMA would apply to municipalities, and in the interim they are to behave as if it does.
Needless to say, lots of municipalities are unhappy with this intrusion into their policy-making space. On Monday, Minister Hansen – who has been denying that the deal will have any consequences while insisting miraculous economic benefits – spoke to a workshop of municipal councillors and mayors. Municipalities have now done their own legal analyses of the pitfalls of TILMA’s investor (and other) provisions, and based on this, the word is that Hansen left the room with his tail between his legs.(*)
Below is a copy of the resolution that was passed by the UBCM almost unanimously today, and a summary of the Monday workshop by Caelie Frampton of the Council of Canadians (reposted from this site):
Whereas the provincial governments of British Columbia and Alberta have entered into a Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA), which came into effect on April 1, 2007 and which is intended to liberalize trade, investment and labour mobility beyond the level provided by the Agreement on Internal Trade that was brought into effect for British Columbia on March 31, 2002;
AND WHEREAS TILMA has the potential to have far reaching negative impacts on local government objectives:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities review the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement between British Columbia and Alberta, and enter into discussions with the provincial government and local governments, with the intent of either making changes to the agreement to more specifically address local government concerns, exempt local governments from the agreement, or request that the Province withdraw from the agreement altogether.