The Conference Board's Saskatchewan Survey

The Saskatchewan Government "should demand a refund" from the Conference Board of Canada, says highly respected economist Erin Weir.

In a further critique of the Conference Board's analysis of the B.C./Alberta Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA), Weir points out "serious practical problems" with the survey conducted by the Conference Board to back up it's analysis of the supposed economic benefits of TILMA.

The Conference Board of Canada simply can't add. There are a number of glaring mathematical errors - which indicate sloppy work. Also, the CBoC's methodology and assumptions are seriously flawed.

As Weir said in commenting about the survey sample used by the CBoC:

"First, more than three-quarters of private-sector entities did not respond to the survey, which suggests that alleged inter-provincial barriers are not an important issue for Saskatchewan business. More generally, this low response rate casts doubt on the survey’s validity.

Second, most of the private-sector organizations surveyed are industry associations or chambers of commerce, which are ideologically committed to deregulation via TILMA and other means."

Hardly a neutral and unbiased analysis of the potential impact of the TILMA scheme. The provincial government "should demand a refund" indeed.

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