Another trade agreement to fight! (TILMA) Posted by Marek Vermin on April 5th, 2007
So, here we are again. Another trade agreement that attempts to secure profit as a holy sacrament: a prima facie fact that all other truths emerge from. Those that make these decisions are well aware that the notion of profit first is under severe scrutiny everywhere as the cost of living continues to rise and real wages fall, all while profits continue to climb until they reach completely unattainable and unsustainable levels. The last nail has been driven into the coffin of Henry Ford and the rise of the middle class is over. All that is left of his dream is the little myth that unlimited growth is possible. But even giants can only grow so tall before they can’t sustain themselves, and all that the ideology of neo-liberalism can do is attempt to force the continued deterioration of the social services that made capitalism somewhat tolerable in the first place. Every time a trade barrier goes down, it is always coupled in these forms of legislation by renewed vigor to restrict any future act of public will. That is why it is important to recognize what we are seeing and act before it’s too late.
From The Council of Canadians Website:
Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA)
Another acronym to learn, another trade agreement to fight
We thought we’d seen them all – NAFTA, FTAA, WTO, GATS – different acronyms, but the same system of unfair trade. But there’s a new one to learn and to fight: TILMA. In April 2006, without public consultation or legislative debate, the premiers of Alberta and British Columbia signed an unprecedented inter-provincial free trade deal called the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement.
This deal allows corporations and individuals to sue provincial governments for any provincial or municipal government measure they feel “restricts or impairs” their investment (i.e. their profits). Under TILMA, even measures designed to protect the environment and public health are vulnerable to attack from corporate lawsuits with compensation penalties as high as $5-million.
Not surprisingly, the United States is interested in signing on to TILMA, and talks are under way to bring U.S. states, and more Canadian provinces, into its reach. This would lead to massive deregulation in Canada, as we harmonize policies with the U.S., which makes TILMA an urgent issue of deep integration.
Opposition to the far-reaching free trade pact continues to grow thanks to intense local action from chapter activists in B.C. and Alberta. One enormously successful tactic has been to speak with municipal governments directly about the dangers of TILMA. Also, starting March 30, 2007, citizens from 15 communities across the two provinces will target their MLAs to demand the governments of Alberta and B.C. tear up TILMA.
