(Not) talking about TILMA: CD Howe holds secret meeting on trade talks

by Gary Schoenfeldt
Straight Goods
April 24, 2007

The business lobby group, the CD Howe Institute, held a quiet luncheon meeting in Regina on April 20, 2007, hosted by a local entrepreneur, at the venerable Hotel Saskatchewan. A modest $40.00 bought lunch and a chance to hear the latest spin from Alberta and BC on the subject of the Trade Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA), presented by senior representatives of the governments of those two westernmost Canadian provinces.

Lunch was served behind closed doors in a funereally — decorated Victorian style dining room, complete with tasseled and tightly closed embroidered drapes. The diners were crammed in like 19th century boys in an upscale private academy. A fussy and seemingly bashful duo consisting of Gerry Bourdeau, Deputy Minister, Alberta International and Intergovernmental Relations and Don Fast, Deputy Minister, British Columbia Ministry of Economic Development entertained the crowd over dessert.

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