What do the premiers want after their latest meeting? More meetings, it seems
CBC
This week's Council of the Federation meetings featured more process than progress.
No one's suggesting a good process isn't fundamental to good politics. Premiers and their officials in Winnipeg talked and listened, networked and took briefings from stakeholders who came to town to lobby on health care, justice reforms, trade infrastructure and more.
But reporters scanning the premiers' kitchen-sink communiques for tangible actions, decisions and fixes were hard-pressed to find a headline. And the meeting's host, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson, showed little ambition to use her time as chair to build a profile on the national stage for her leadership, or advance a specific priority.
On the hard issues, the premiers kicked the can and decided the best things to announce and demand were (wait for it) ... more meetings.
On health care, they announced plans to meet again for a summit "aimed at advancing innovative work."
On infrastructure, they demanded that the prime minister join them for a First Ministers' meeting to discuss how the next round of federal funding should roll out. Justin Trudeau's office forwarded this call to Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc's office — which issued a statement reminding everyone that, of course, he meets regularly to discuss this subject with provinces and territories.
(That wasn't exactly a hard no on a First Ministers' meeting with Trudeau. It didn't seem enthusiastic, either. Then again, the Prime Minister's Office also rebuffed calls for a health-care summit with premiers until last February, when the winds shifted and Trudeau hosted them in Ottawa — on his terms.)
Finally, on the cost of implementing federal clean fuel regulations, Atlantic premiers demanded their own meeting with Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to discuss some kind of offset or compensation. The premiers point to the disproportionate burden Atlantic consumers bear because inexpensive clean energy is scarce in their jurisdictions, at least in the near term.
Freeland's office told CBC News it's still exploring logistics but talks are underway on getting perhaps a half-dozen of Trudeau's ministers from the Atlantic provinces to sit down with the region's premiers next week to hear them out — a sign, perhaps, of how politically unpopular jumps at the pumps can be.
These latest complaints about climate measures unfairly burdening certain regions are part of a narrative that has pervaded federal-provincial relations ever since Trudeau's first cabinet was sworn in.
They also gave Alberta Premier Danielle Smith an opportunity to speak for more than just herself when she accused the federal government of regulating what it doesn't understand — Canada's diverse array of energy production and consumption.
At the Council of the Federation's closing news conference, a single question from CBC News about whether the premiers unanimously backed the Atlantic premiers' call for a federal fuel offset prompted explanations, justifications and interventions from more than half of the group.
Federal policy, Smith said, has been all stick and no carrot.
While some free marketers endorse carbon pricing in theory, it's been bumping up against record-high inflation over the past year. The cost of carbon pricing, layered on top of elevated fuel prices to meet shorter-term emissions targets, is really being felt by Canadians, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said.
The government of Saskatchewan has announced plans to reduce the length of non-resident game bird hunting licences to combat illegal guiding.
An 87-year-old Alberta man is fighting extradition to the United Kingdom to stand trial for historical allegations of physical and sexual assault involving minors.
Eight casinos across southwest B.C. have been sold to First Nations in the last two years, with the province's gambling scene set to be reshaped as a result.
Hamilton hosts the Junos Sunday, and the musical awards show is bringing tourists, musicians, concerts and a ton of themed events to the city this week.
The multi-million-dollar deal at the heart of a high-profile fight between the Canadian government and one of the world’s biggest carmakers contains multiple clauses about the company’s footprint in Ontario, according to a copy obtained by CBC Windsor.
In recent months, Calgary police have carried out three day-long safety blitzes, parading out dozens of officers to flood an area with their increased presence — at least, temporarily.
A national organization is seeking people with experience in Canada's forestry sector as they put together a working group that will examine ways to improve forest recovery following wildfires.
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