OTTAWA — Stephen Harper will be going about his day-to-day routine in Ottawa while Canada’s premiers and territorial leaders meet without him in Halifax this week.
For months, the premiers have publicly called on Harper to attend their economic forum this Thursday and Friday to no avail.
Harper’s staff confirmed to The Chronicle Herald that he does not have any special events or announcements planned during the days of the meeting.
“He’ll be in the House this week tending to the business of the nation,” said Harper’s director of communications, Andrew MacDougall.
MacDougall said the prime minister already meets with premiers regularly when they come to Ottawa and when he travels the country.
Premier Darrell Dexter said prime ministers have been reluctant to meet with the premiers because it has turned out to be an uncomfortable experience in the past. But he said the summit was intentionally designed to avoid premiers ganging up on the prime minister to ask for more money.
Dexter said the talks were structured to have all the provinces and Ottawa figure out how they can best work together to help Canada’s economy.
“We wanted to ensure that there was a fence around what we were doing,” he said. “This was not going to be wide-ranging, it was not going to be about transfers, it was not going to be about the complaints of premiers.
“All those things can take place in another form. We wanted specifically to talk about the economy.”
The premiers have repeatedly tried to get Harper more involved in their affairs, just as Harper has been cutting ties.
Late last year, Ottawa set the rates at which it will contribute to health spending for a decade and essentially said it will write the provinces blank cheques every year. Each province will be able to spend the money as it sees fit, and Ottawa does not plan to be involved in ensuring that certain standards are met.
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and finance critic Peggy Nash chastised the prime minister, who was not in the House of Commons on Monday, for snubbing the Halifax summit.
“If (the government’s) priority is truly the economy, why is the prime minister refusing to sit down with his counterparts to deal with solutions to counter the slowdown in our economy?” Nash asked.
Harper hasn’t met with the premiers as a group since January 2009.
Speaking for Harper, Minister of State for Finance Ted Menzies said the prime minister regularly meets one-on-one with premiers.
“He meets on a regular basis with all of the premiers, and that’s very important that he keep in contact with those individuals as well as he does with other leaders around the world,” Menzies said.
With Harper out, the star attraction of the forum will be Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. He is expected to speak about the economic troubles facing the United States and how they could affect Canada.
The economic summit was announced when the premiers last met in Halifax in July under the banner of the Council of the Federation. The meeting will take place at the World Trade and Convention Centre in downtown Halifax.
Original Article
Source: the chronicle herald
Author: PAUL McLEOD
For months, the premiers have publicly called on Harper to attend their economic forum this Thursday and Friday to no avail.
Harper’s staff confirmed to The Chronicle Herald that he does not have any special events or announcements planned during the days of the meeting.
“He’ll be in the House this week tending to the business of the nation,” said Harper’s director of communications, Andrew MacDougall.
MacDougall said the prime minister already meets with premiers regularly when they come to Ottawa and when he travels the country.
Premier Darrell Dexter said prime ministers have been reluctant to meet with the premiers because it has turned out to be an uncomfortable experience in the past. But he said the summit was intentionally designed to avoid premiers ganging up on the prime minister to ask for more money.
Dexter said the talks were structured to have all the provinces and Ottawa figure out how they can best work together to help Canada’s economy.
“We wanted to ensure that there was a fence around what we were doing,” he said. “This was not going to be wide-ranging, it was not going to be about transfers, it was not going to be about the complaints of premiers.
“All those things can take place in another form. We wanted specifically to talk about the economy.”
The premiers have repeatedly tried to get Harper more involved in their affairs, just as Harper has been cutting ties.
Late last year, Ottawa set the rates at which it will contribute to health spending for a decade and essentially said it will write the provinces blank cheques every year. Each province will be able to spend the money as it sees fit, and Ottawa does not plan to be involved in ensuring that certain standards are met.
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and finance critic Peggy Nash chastised the prime minister, who was not in the House of Commons on Monday, for snubbing the Halifax summit.
“If (the government’s) priority is truly the economy, why is the prime minister refusing to sit down with his counterparts to deal with solutions to counter the slowdown in our economy?” Nash asked.
Harper hasn’t met with the premiers as a group since January 2009.
Speaking for Harper, Minister of State for Finance Ted Menzies said the prime minister regularly meets one-on-one with premiers.
“He meets on a regular basis with all of the premiers, and that’s very important that he keep in contact with those individuals as well as he does with other leaders around the world,” Menzies said.
With Harper out, the star attraction of the forum will be Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. He is expected to speak about the economic troubles facing the United States and how they could affect Canada.
The economic summit was announced when the premiers last met in Halifax in July under the banner of the Council of the Federation. The meeting will take place at the World Trade and Convention Centre in downtown Halifax.
Original Article
Source: the chronicle herald
Author: PAUL McLEOD
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