Premiers ask Ottawa for cash — again
Perhaps the truest words of this week’s annual premiers’ gathering came as something of a joke from Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister during Wednesday’s wrap-up news conference.
“We have to work at liking each other,” he said of his colleagues. ‘That’s why we get together.”
Everyone laughed. Because it’s true.
It’s a testament to Confederation and the spirit of good old Canadian compromise that every year the premiers, new and old, come together for a two-day meeting to hash out their differences and cobble together alliances.
Not always successfully, mind you. Some years they get so little done — other than complaining yet again about the federal government or demanding more federal funding — that observers are left wondering what the point is.
In fact, this year, CBC Television’s Kim Trynacity, a veteran of more than a few premiers’ conferences, asked the gathered politicians at their concluding news conference in Edmonton, what’s the point?
“What’s the value even of holding these CoF (Council of the Federation) summer meetings given that we have telephones and Skype and everything else?”
Several of the premiers took turns to passionately defend their get-togethers.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne talked about the importance of getting to know people.
“The face-to-face conversations lead to, I would suggest, better relationships, which leads to better governance.”
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said the premiers control their own itinerary, unlike at a first ministers’ conference where Ottawa dominates the agenda.
And Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who chaired this year’s conference, added: “I can say quite definitively, having been in the room for the conversations that trying to manage the energetic, thoughtful, focused input of all the 13 people in the room over Skype or on the phone would have been a nightmare that I would have run screaming from.”
Everyone laughed. Because it’s true.
But what did the premiers accomplish this year?
Probably the biggest agreement came on the issue of legalized marijuana. Namely, their irritation with Ottawa for declaring July 1 will be the day recreational use of cannabis becomes legal across Canada.
But it’s up to the provinces to figure out the mechanics of making it work.
Who will sell it? Will it mean setting up separate shops, like liquor stores? How much will you be able to possess? How old do you need to be? How do police determine if you’re driving under the influence?
The premiers aren’t convinced they can work out the answers in time.
Pallister would like another year from Ottawa to figure it all out. He pointed to the uncomfortable fact there might not be enough legal sources of cannabis next year, leaving open the troubling possibility that organized crime will step in to meet the demand via the black market.
At the end of their conference, the premiers issued a communique saying they have established a “Provincial-Territorial Working Group on Cannabis Legalization.”
It will report back to the premiers by Nov. 1 on the best ways to move forward.
And true to just about every communique ever issued by a premiers’ conference, they demanded more money from Ottawa: “Premiers note that the administration and regulation, public education and law enforcement efforts necessary to support legalization will entail significant costs for provincial and territorial governments.”
I’m not suggesting they shouldn’t be asking for more money on this particular issue, just that there seems to be a default setting on their communique machine that always concludes with a request for “appropriate resources” from the federal government.
Without that money, the premiers say they “will require an extension of the implementation date.”
Just minutes later in Quebec, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau poured cold water over the idea of a delay, telling reporters he’s committed to the July 1 deadline.
You have to wonder sometimes why the premiers bother.
But it’s difficult to argue with their passion for the annual premiers’ conference.
If nothing else, it’s a symbol of how our politicians, for all their differences from coast to coast to coast, are willing “to work at liking each other.”
I suppose the only thing worse than having a stymied premiers’ conference is not having a premiers’ conference at all.