Two Ontario municipalities voice concerns about TILMA; new opportunity opens up for AMO lobbying

[Stop TILMA!]

All,

Some of you have seen this news from London and Peterborough, Ontario.
I just wanted to compile them here, with some forward thinking
thoughts towards the AMO meeting in Toronto, ON in late August.

This report comes form Stuart Trew, the Council of Canadians regional
organizer for Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut. To contact him, please
email st...@canadians.org. I'm hoping over the next few months we can
expand the focus of this list to include reports and stories of
organizing efforts from across the country.

Best,
Carleen

The past two weeks have seen important developments on TILMA from
London and Peterborough, Ontario.

Peterborough opposes adoption of TILMA

According to Roy Brady of the Peterborough chapter, a report on TILMA
with no recommendations was presented to City Council on Monday night
(July 7) by the City Solicitor. Roy appeared before the council to
comment on the report and make further recommendations, which were
subsequently tabled as a resolution and passed by Council.

The recommendations included:

1. That the City of Peterborough express its opposition to the
adoption of a TILMA agreement by the province of Ontario;

2. That the City of Peterborough lobby the Association of
Municipalities of Ontario before and at the August AGM to take a stand
against TILMA; and

3. That the City of Peterborough lobby the local Member of Provincial
Parliament to report to the City and the citizens of Peterborough
regarding any negotiations for TILMA or any other internal trade
agreement (with Quebec, for instance).

This is an incredible victory. Peterborough now joins a handful of
municipalities in the Niagara region that have passed resolutions in
opposition to TILMA. It is more important considering that Ontario
municipalities have been reluctant to come out on this issue since
they received assurances from the Association of Municipalities of
Ontario that it was being taken care of.

London worried about impacts on

After a successful and long 10-month information campaign from the
local Council of Canadians chapter, the municipality of London,
Ontario has also recently tabled a report based on the thoughts of the
Director of Intergovernmental and Community Liaison regarding the
TILMA agreement. Among the report’s findings were:

- “Local autonomy extended through local government
legislation may be restricted. Capacity for local decision making
within established spheres of municipal jurisdiction may be
diminished.

- “Subsidies, including grants, loans or tax incentives used
to attract businesses to their community or specific parts of the
community will be disallowed under TILMA.

- “There is the potential for the lowest common standards or
regulations to be applied.

- “Challenges under the agreement may only be made against
either provincial
government, and not individuals, groups or municipalities. The onus is
on the
provincial governments to ensure parties in their jurisdictions are
compliant. It is unknown how long the provincial government would be
willing to pay for penalties for non-compliance without passing the
costs onto the party involved.

- “Municipalities do not have standing at the dispute panel
and are therefore dependent on the province to defend local decisions.

- “Right to judicial review of tribunal decisions is limited
to cases where a monetary award has been issued. Municipalities may
have to conform to decisions of unelected tribunals unfamiliar and
unconcerned with local issues, thus undermining local democracy.

Following the tabling of the report, London city council passed a
resolution including the following actions:

- “The Premier of Ontario and our local MPPs BE REQUESTED to recognize
the importance of consulting municipal governments on the Ontario-
Quebec Economic Partnership Agreement and to work with the Association
of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the municipal sector to clearly
define the municipal implications of interprovincial trade, investment
and labour agreements and ensure timely sharing of information;

- “The AMO BE REQUESTED to lobby the Government of Ontario to consult
broadly with municipalities before signing the Ontario-Quebec Economic
Partnership Agreement to clearly define the municipal implications of
interprovincial trade, investment and labour agreements and ensure
timely sharing of information;

- “Civic Administration BE REQUESTED to continue to consult with
appropriate representatives of the Government of Canada, the
Government of Ontario, AMO, FCM and other local governments to assess
the impact of proposed changes to the operations of municipalities and
to protect the interests of the Corporation; and

- “Civic Administration BE REQUESTED to monitor developments in
connection with the Ontario-Quebec Economic Partnership, the Agreement
on Internal Trade, and the Alberta/British Columbia Trade Investment
and Labour Mobility Agreement, and report back to Council as
appropriate on matters affecting municipal government. (M16-00) (9/18/
BC)”

They sent a letter including these actions to Premier McGuinty on June
24, 2008.

Momentum leading up to AMO meeting in August

The London and Peterborough resolutions show clearly that efforts to
convince municipalities of the dangers of TILMA and the Ontario-Quebec
Economic Partnership Agreement can still be successful leading up to
the AMO annual meeting, August 24-27 in Ottawa. I have been told by
the AMO’s executive director that the Ontario-Quebec deal will be
discussed at the meeting and that municipalities will have a chance to
ask questions. These two new resolutions, and the ones to come out of
the Niagara region, should provide other local councillors with the
impetus to also study the TILMA. The resolutions might also make it
easier to approach your local councilors with information about TILMA
and our concerns about the Ontario-Quebec deal.