MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2008

The Council of Canadians warns Premiers McGuinty and Charest not to sign unconstitutional trade pact

Following a new legal opinion on the constitutionality of inter-provincial trade pacts like the Alberta-B.C. Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement, the Council of Canadians is warning Ontario and Quebec to steer clear of a similar alliance when the premiers meet for a joint cabinet meeting in Quebec City on June 2.

According to a legal opinion from respected trade lawyer Steven Shrybman, which was released today by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, TILMA challenges the fundamental principles and norms of Canada’s constitutional arrangements, notably “by imposing financial and other sanctions on the otherwise lawful acts of the province, municipalities and other public bodies.”

“We are enormously concerned that the premiers are about to capitulate to corporate interests by signing a sweeping inter-provincial pact modeled on TILMA,” says Stuart Trew, a researcher with the Council of Canadians. “Not only would this weaken local democracy in Ontario and Quebec by allowing private individuals and corporations to challenge public policy in front of quasi-judicial and non-transparent trade panels, but it might be unconstitutional.”

TILMA, which was never publicly debated in Alberta or B.C. before it was signed in April 2006, makes almost all government rules and regulations – including those passed by municipalities, school boards and health authorities – vulnerable to corporate claims that they are veiled barriers to inter-provincial trade or investment. Under TILMA, hand-picked TILMA dispute panels have the legal authority to hand out $5-million penalties to the offending province.

The Harper government is pressing all provinces to either sign TILMA or create similar agreements with their neighbours. The Council of Canadians is concerned that premiers Jean Charest and Dalton McGuinty could be set to announce a similar inter-provincial agreement at their joint cabinet meeting on June 2.

The previous Saskatchewan government held an extensive public consultation on TILMA last year before deciding it would not sign the far-reaching agreement.

“If Saskatchewan refused to sign TILMA then clearly there is something wrong or unnecessary about these trade and investment pacts,” says Trew. “The new legal opinion suggesting that TILMA could be unconstitutional tells us that McGuinty, Charest and all Canada’s premiers, for that matter, should steer clear of anything that remotely resembles the Alberta-B.C. agreement.”

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