Inside this issue:
Time to Raise BC’s Minimum Wage
BC Hydro Deals Mean Higher Energy Prices in BC’s Future
First Nations Forestry Accords: Not a Partnership of Equals
BC Budget 2007: The Housing Budget That Wasn’t
TILMA’s Attack on Public Interest Regulation
International trade and investment, deep integration
The Harper government is pressuring provincial governments to adopt the Trade, Investment, and Labour Mobility (TILMA) agreement already signed by the British Columbia and Alberta governments. Governments at both the provincial and municipal levels would be permanently hamstrung by TILMA, vulnerable to challenge even if they were acting within their jurisdiction.
Few Atlantic Canadians would argue against the potential benefits of improving trade with our New England neighbours. Given this, the controversy surrounding proposals for an “Atlantica” trade zone spanning Atlantic Canada, southern Quebec and north-eastern New England may come as a surprise.Concerns about Atlantica are, however, fully justified. The proposed export corridor, championed by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), would have serious detrimental effects on Atlantic Canada.
I suspect that few Atlantic Canadians would argue against the potential benefits of improving trade ties with our New England neighbours. So the controversy surrounding proposals for an “Atlantica” trade zone spanning Atlantic Canada and northern New England may come as a surprise.
(Ottawa and Vancouver) The BC and Alberta governments should not implement the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA), according to two new studies from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. TILMA is scheduled to come into effect on April 1, 2007.
HALIFAX – Le couloir d’exportation Atlantica proposé aurait des effets néfastes importants pour le Canada atlantique, selon une étude publiée aujourd’hui par le Centre canadien de politiques alternatives (CCPA).