Are Ontario and Quebec planning an Eastern TILMA?
There has been much speculation about whether Ontario would sign on to the Alberta-B.C. Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA). Last October, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told the CanWest News Service that, “I think [TILMA is] a step in the right direction for us to move toward ultimately a state where there is free trade actually within this country.” A month later, Sandra Pupatello, Ontario’s minister of economic development and trade, said in a speech that, “we should encourage inter-provincial trade by matching the industrial needs in Alberta with the industrial capacity in Ontario. We should also explore the merits of joining the Alberta-British Columbia trade agreement.” Of course joining TILMA would be a terrible decision for Ontario to make. In the name of tearing down so-called barriers to inter-provincial trade, TILMA hands private businesses and individuals incredible powers to challenge and revoke local and provincial laws, regulations or other rules tha
