Prince George city staffer raises concerns about lowering of purchasing thresholds under TILMA

[Stop TILMA!]

All,

The Prince George Citizen reports on TILMA and tending thresholds in
an article from Thursday, April 24. The city’s supply services manager
Scott Bone raises concern about the lowering of thresholds under TILMA
for local governments. TILMA significantly decreases the procurement
thresholds (the minimum budget required to tender a project) as set by
the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT).

TILMA says they must provide “open and non-discriminatory access” for
tenders to anyone in BC and AL. Thresholds are lowered for goods’
purchases to $10,000; for services to $75,000; and for construction to
$100,000.

Scott Bone mentions the administrative workload that will result from
the change. "It takes a lot of time to prepare tenders, usually it
takes three or four weeks," he said. "That would impact our ability to
get the materials purchased in a timely manner."

Further, municipalities have voiced concern that TILMA will negatively
affect local companies.

I’ve also included a news story about the newly introduced Bill 32. In
it NDP critic Charlie Wyse explains that TILMA is just the latest top
down measure from the BC Liberals to impact municipalities.

During a recent legislative session where Bill 18 -the Greenhouse Gas
Reduction (Cap and Trade) Act- was discussed Wyse made connections to
TILMA and environmental regulation: "There are legal opinions by
environmental groups that enunciate, in their opinion, that underneath
the investment component of TILMA there are a variety of actions that
TILMA will impede here in British Columbia — certain things to proceed
to protect the environment, particularly at the local government
level. One of those areas falls within the greenhouse gas areas, never
mind species and so on."

You can read his full statement here:
http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/38th4th/h80414p.htm#11293

Best,
Caelie



* Tendering threshold may be lowered under TILMA *
Written by MARK NIELSEN
Thursday, 24 April 2008

A proposal to set the tendering threshold for goods purchased by
municipalities at $10,000 under the Trade, Investment and Labour
Mobility Agreement (TILMA) between B.C. and Alberta is raising alarm
bells for city supply services manager Scott Bone.

As it stands, the city issues a tender only when estimated cost is
$25,000 or greater -- for purchases between $5,000 and $25,000, the
city gets three quotes --and Bone is worried that lowering the
threshold to $10,000 will cause more trouble than its worth.

"It takes a lot of time to prepare tenders, usually it takes three or
four weeks," he said. "That would impact our ability to get the
materials purchased in a timely manner."

Under the draft agreement, the $10,000 threshold would apply to
purchases of goods only while those for services and construction
projects would be $75,000 and $100,000 respectively. The city's
thresholds for those two is $25,000 and so would remain unaffected.

"If I was to look for a consultant, I would still go out to a request
for proposals based on $25,000, so the only impact at this point in
time for the City of Prince George would be the proposed threshold for
the purchase of goods at $10,000," he said.

"I'm not suggesting it's going to cost more money. We may need more
resources to manage those additional tenders but at this point in time
we're only saying there's going to be an impact in terms of timeliness
of getting the goods."

All of the city's tenders are now posted on the provincial
government's B.C. Bid website to provide easier access for businesses
outside the province and Bone said he routinely gets inquiries from
Alberta, as well as from out of country.
"India, the United States and England," he said.

There is a chance the threshold could be increased before the deal
comes into effect in April 2009. Prince George is among several
municipalities around the province who've been pushing to increase the
threshold.



* Alberta-B.C. bonds grow stronger *
By Tom Fletcher - BC Local News - April 22, 2008
http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/18005044.html

The B.C. government is moving ahead with its trade and labour
harmonization agreement with Alberta, which has not yet found favour
in provinces to the east.

Economic Development Minister Colin Hansen has tabled legislation that
sets up a dispute resolution system, with appeals and judicial review.
That formalizes the agreement signed by the two provinces in 2006 to
promote freer movement of people and services, and create Canada's
second-largest economic unit.

As well as harmonizing qualifications for professions and trades, the
Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) lets
businesses such as oilfield servicing to work on both sides of the
border with minimum paperwork. The deal has also enabled equal access
for chartered bus services, joint participation in energy technology
development and cooperative planning and management of provincial
parks along the border.

NDP critic Charlie Wyse notes that Saskatchewan's new government has
studied the agreement and apparently chosen not to sign on.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has expressed concerns that TILMA may
interfere with provincial tax incentives and Crown corporations.

Wyse has previously criticized TILMA as the latest imposition on
municipal authority, since it prevents local government from favouring
B.C. suppliers over those from Alberta.

"This scheme was a bad idea when Gordon Campbell first dreamed it up
with Ralph Klein, and it's just as bad of an idea now," Wyse said.