Ottawa's $130 million out-of-court settlement with forestry giant AbitibiBowater has created a precedent undermining provincial ownership and control of resources under Canada's constitution, an international trade policy expert says.

"This is a decision that should concern all Canadian provincial governments, in terms of regulating and developing their publicly owned resources, and concern all Canadians," says Scott Sinclair, a former senior trade policy adviser with the B.C. government, now a senior research fellow with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.