Premiers call for meeting with Harper
The leaders of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories are calling for a meeting on the economy with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Harper has not appeared at a first ministers meeting since January of 2009.
The premiers want to break that streak with a summit on how Canada will chart its way through the troubled world economy. The meeting would take place in Halifax sometime in late November, after the American election. It would be organized by the governments of Nova Scotia, Alberta and Ontario.
“We expect the prime minister will want to have a co-ordinated plan to deal with the country’s economy,” said Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter.
“He has 13 willing partners who want to construct and ensure a successful Canadian economy. We think that’s a good reason for him.”
The Harper government has become known for making unilateral changes to intergovernmental issues such as transfer payments. In December, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty shocked the provinces by announcing Ottawa had set the rate for health transfers until 2024.
Thursday in Halifax, Quebec Premier Jean Charest railed against what he called the unilateralism of the Harper government.
“Frankly, we’ve never experienced that. We’ve never seen that. And that’s something that must change.”
Harper’s director of communications didn’t rule out such a meeting Thursday, but he also didn’t make it sound as if Harper was clearing his schedule in late November. Andrew MacDougall said the Conservatives are focused on creating jobs in every region of the country.
“The prime minister has had many productive discussions on the economy with his provincial counterparts and will surely have many more over the months to come,” said MacDougall.