Proponents of a controversial interprovincial trade agreement say Saskatchewan’s agriculture industry will benefit from freer trade and less regulation if the provincial government signs on to the deal with Alberta and British Columbia.
But critics warn the deal would undermine the ability of the provincial government to bring in programs to benefit Saskatchewan’s farmers and provide financial assistance to local groups setting up new agricultural businesses.
They also say it could pose a threat to some important existing programs, including supply management.
The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement, or TILMA, was signed by the governments of B.C. and Alberta April 28 and is to be fully implemented by April 2009.
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Among other things, the agreement is designed to standardize business regulations, allow workers to move freely across provincial borders, end rules that favour local businesses, eliminate trade barriers and provide a system for settling disputes.
Agricultural businesses would be subject to the same rules as other businesses, but production agriculture is barely mentioned in the agreement.
However, that doesn’t reassure National Farmers Union president Stewart Wells.
He said the real threat from TILMA is that it transfers power from governments to private corporations and investors, at the expense of farmers, workers and local communities.
“At the heart of our opposition to TILMA is our concern over the erosion of the power of democratically elected governments to determine policies and implement laws and bylaws on behalf of their constituents,” he said.
Supporters of TILMA say the agreement will prevent one province from providing financial assistance to its farmers that might give them an unfair advantage over producers in another province. They say it will ensure farmers and agricultural businesses are on a level playing field in all three provinces.
They also note the agreement provides exemptions in important and sensitive areas like supply management rules, regional economic development programs and disaster relief payments.
“In terms of agricultural producers, the agreement doesn’t mean much one way or the other, positive or negative,” said Red Williams, an agricultural economist and member of Saskatchewan Agrivision Corp.
He added the programs that have the greatest impact on farmers tend to be federal rather than provincial and would be unaffected by TILMA.
The area where it might provide some benefits would be in smoothing out barriers to trade involving agribusinesses.
His organization’s position is that the Saskatchewan government should participate in discussions about TILMA, without making any commitment to sign on.
“We say ‘at least take a look at it,’ ” he said, adding it’s unfortunate discussion about the deal has been caught up in electoral politics in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan’s governing New Democrats say they are not interested in joining TILMA. The opposition Saskatchewan Party, which is well ahead in public opinion polls and has a chance of forming the next government, originally supported the deal but recently changed its position to opposition.
Business groups in the province are strongly in favour of participation, while organized labour is strongly opposed.
Wells said the deal is stacked in favour of business interests.
For example, governments will be required to prove that policies or programs don’t restrict or impair trade and investment.
“Given that regulation, by definition, restricts or impairs trade and investment, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that TILMA will lead to more deregulation at the expense of the public interest,” he said in a brief submitted to the provincial government in June.
Proponents of TILMA acknowledge the ultimate goal is to remove all trade barriers and put businesses in all provinces on the same footing.
“There is a commitment that over time the parties will work to review the operations of their legislation and to reduce barriers to trade,” said Jeff Lee, a Saskatoon lawyer whose firm has produced a handbook on TILMA.
He said that at the moment it’s difficult to say exactly how the agreement will affect agriculture, since those kinds of details are to be negotiated over the next two years, before full implementation of the agreement.
Also, the agreement allows each province to put together a “hands-off” list that can be used to protect programs that might run counter to the agreement but are considered crucial to maintain.
Both Alberta and B.C. have put their provincial supply management programs on that list.
