TILMA by Stealth in Saskatchewan

The Saskatchewan Party had repeatedly promised not to sign TILMA, but signed the New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA) last year.

At the time, many commentators (including yours truly) noted that the NWPTA was little more than a renaming of TILMA. I see that the official TILMA website is now automatically redirecting to the NWPTA website:

Effective July 1, 2010 the TILMA (Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement) has been expanded to become the New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA) between British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Built on the success of the TILMA between Alberta and British Columbia, the NWPTA extends Alberta’s and British Columbia’s commitments under the former TILMA. In practice, the obligations for British Columbia and Alberta do not change under the NWPTA.

You will be automatically re-directed to the official site of the New West Partnership Trade Agreement or click here.

You are being redirected in X seconds.

UPDATE (July 26): I was away for the past few days, but I see that the TILMA website has been changed. The above text, which acknowledged that NWPTA was an extension of TILMA, has been replaced with the following:

The New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA) is a new trade agreement between British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan that took effect on July 1, 2010. To find out more information, visit NWPTA.

For posterity, here is a screen shot of the same webpage when it was automatically redirecting. It remains telling that the first thing displayed on TILMA’s website is a link to NWPTA’s website.