The scope and far-reaching implications of the TILMA Agreement are certainly alarming but this agreement, I believe, is also the precursor to the SPP Agreement. The SPP Agreement has even more frightening and far-reaching implications. It follows the same flawed logic as TILMA but on a huge scale and which involves Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. In essence creating a new North American Union(NAU). There is even utterances of teaching (in school) the new notion that we are not Canadian, American, or Mexican but rather North Americans.
This is what is referred to as 'deep integration' and it is indeed a race to the bottom.
Here are a few excerpts from an article titled "Ralph's Last Laugh:...." written by Ellen Gould, Briarpatch Magazine, December '06 and January '07.
"Because what TILMA does is force governments at both the provincial and local levels to surrender vast areas of their ability to govern. The agreement is essentially a long list of things governments will be prohibited from doing, regardless of whether they are acting completely within their jurisdiction." And,
"The handling of disputes is one of the major differences between TILMA and the Agreement on Internal Trade. TILMA gives private investors, including persons who hold shares in a company and companies seeking to make new investments, new rights to challenge governments on a variety of grounds, including over programs and regulations that "impair or restrict" their investments."
And, by the Council of Canadians, "Another bad deal for Canada" January '07;
"But TILMA was signed based on a myth that inter-provincial trade barriers are everywhere and costly. This ignores a 1998 study done for the British Columbia government that stated, "efforts to liberalize inter-provincial trade will have almost no effect on trade flows," and that "the reality is that inter-provincial trade barriers are already very low."
Janice
Questions
and comments - janice@stoptilma.com
Copyright 2007
Last updated April 23/07
