-------------------------------------------------------- Original source URL: http://buckdogpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/08/saskatchewan-will-not-sign-flawed-trade.html Thursday, August 02, 2007 Saskatchewan Will NOT Sign Flawed Trade Deal With Alberta And B. C. The Government of Saskatchewan has announced that it will not sign onto The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) between Alberta and British Columbia. That is a VERY good thing. Only the most ideological right wing free market type defends Tilma. The so called 'trade agreement' is more a 'bill of corporate rights' which has numerous mechanisms for businesses and corporations to challenge provincial or municipal government decisions. Here is an example. In the two provinces where Tilma exists, let's say a school board decided that it wanted to remove soft drink vending machines and replace them with machines that sell fruit juice. Well, Tilma allows that to occur provided the school board pays damages and reparations to the soft drink company that will now 'lose' business as result of the local government decision. No thanks! The last thing we need in Saskatchewan - or Canada for that matter, is more and more 'rights' for corporations. Tilma may have some benefits but they smokescreen the essence of the agreement which is the ability for corporate entities to gouge us even more then the already gouge us! -CBC -Government of Saskatchewan -Saskatoon Star Phoenix -canadaeast.com posted by leftdog at Thursday, August 02, 2007 -------------------------------------------------------- Original source URL: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/third_page/story.html?id=abbbcf18-35d8-4ff1-af85-fa226c66d482 Wednesday » August 8 » 2007 Sask. won't sign trade deal NDP says TILMA could tie the hands of government James Wood The StarPhoenix Thursday, August 02, 2007 REGINA -- The risks to Saskatchewan from joining the controversial Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) between Alberta and British Columbia outweigh the potential economic benefits, the NDP government said Wednesday as it rejected signing on to the deal. At a press conference at the legislature, Government Relations Minister Harry Van Mulligen said there are too many unanswered questions about how the deal aimed at breaking down economic barriers could potentially hamper the ability of government to act in the public interest. Instead, Saskatchewan will concentrate on pushing for reforms to the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) that applies to all provinces. "I think the best way to make progress is to do that in a methodical, well-thought-out fashion that reflects the interests of all the parties. . . . It's a little bit slower, it's not shock therapy, but I think at the end of the day will serve the interests of not just the people of Saskatchewan but the people of Canada better," said Van Mulligen. The government's decision comes as little surprise. TILMA attracted strong opposition from the NDP's traditional allies in the labour movement and elsewhere, and Premier Lorne Calvert expressed skepticism about the deal months ago. The Opposition Saskatchewan Party, which initially touted the deal, also said in June that it could not sign TILMA in its present form after a series of hearings on the agreement held by an all-party legislative committee. TILMA, which came into effect this April, is intended to eliminate trade and investment barriers between Alberta and B.C. while also bringing about the harmonization of rules, regulations and professional standards. A study commissioned by the government from the Conference Board of Canada estimated that signing on would increase Saskatchewan's gross domestic product by $291 million and increase annual employment by 4,400 person years. But Van Mulligen said the government is concerned about the "very broad scope" of government measures that can be challenged by private interests and the strong enforcement measures in place in the deal. The two major worries are how TILMA could affect Saskatchewan's large Crown corporations sector and government investment in the economy, especially in specific industries and businesses. As well, although the deal exempts sectors such as public health, education, social services and environmental protection, Van Mulligen believes the agreement, could at the least, indirectly impact those areas. "We think it's a plausible scenario under TILMA that governments at all levels could be told by trade dispute panels how they must legislate and regulate so as to minimize their measure's impact on internal trade. And if they refuse to do so, the provincial government could face serial fines of up to $5 million per challenge," said Van Mulligen. Van Mulligen said the B.C. and Alberta governments have indicated that provinces wishing to join TILMA must accept its basic terms and conditions. There's no guarantee Saskatchewan could negotiate satisfactory changes before or after signing on to TILMA, he said. But the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce expressed disappointment at the government's decision Wednesday and said entering discussions around TILMA would have at least provided the government leverage in difficult AIT negotiations. Van Mulligen said the government wants to see improvements to the AIT's resolution process, full labour mobility of regulated professions and trades, the addition of a new energy chapter, the addressing of nuisance differences in regulations and standards in priority sectors and the expansion of coverage incrementally. But Saskatchewan chamber president Dave Dutchak said the province faces major hurdles because all 13 provinces and territories must be in agreement to make changes to the existing agreement. "The membership of the provincial chamber is concerned that if the AIT decision-making process is not reformed to some type of majority rule, the government will have little success in its endeavours," he said in a news release. However, Saskatchewan Federation of Labour president Larry Hubich saluted the government's decision and said no business would enter an agreement that imposed the kind of restrictions governments face under TILMA. "We've engaged in a serious evaluation of this agreement from a legal perspective, from an economic perspective and from a democratic perspective and it's flawed. So I think it's irresponsible for any government or any opposition to suggest this is a good agreement," he told reporters at the legislature. Both Van Mulligen and Hubich dismissed the political considerations around the government's decision. The Saskatchewan Party's decision not to support the deal likely defused what would have been a major issue in the provincial election expected this fall. The Opposition said it couldn't back TILMA as is because of its potential impact on the Crowns and on the ability of the province and municipal governments to provide targeted "new growth" tax cuts. Mike Chisholm, the Opposition's critic for Western Economic Diversification, said he believes the NDP government has shut the door permanently on the deal. However, a Saskatchewan Party government could potentially seek to enter an agreement with Alberta and B.C. after the end of TILMA's two-year transition period, which sees ongoing discussions on areas such as Crowns and municipalities. "On the other hand, we had an opportunity three years ago to be at the table when that agreement was drafted, but the government chose not to do that. That was the time when we perhaps could have got these things clarified and perhaps the government would have been in a position to say yes," Chisholm said. •••@••.••• © The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007 Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc. -- -------------------------------------------------------- Posting archives: http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?lists=newslog Escaping the Matrix website: http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal website: http://cyberjournal.org Community Democracy Framework: http://cyberjournal.org/DemocracyFramework.html Moderator: •••@••.••• (comments welcome)
