Ottawa cancelled B.C. event on child care amid pipeline dispute
The federal government abruptly cancelled a joint announcement with British Columbia over child-care funding late last week as tensions continued to mount over the Kinder Morgan pipeline dispute.
The federal and provincial ministers responsible for child care were set to hold a news conference Friday to announce their early learning and child-care agreement, which will see Ottawa deliver $153 million over three years to the province. But on Thursday, Ottawa pulled out of the event, claiming a scheduling conflict.
The move came during the height of a dispute between Alberta, B.C. and Ottawa over the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
The B.C. government announced earlier this month it intends to restrict the expanded flow of bitumen into the province pending a review into the science of oil spills. Alberta responded on Feb. 6 with a ban on importing B.C. wines and an appeal to Ottawa to intervene and overrule what it called an unconstitutional threat from B.C.
B.C. and federal officials then met on Feb. 8 in Vancouver. That day, Ottawa cancelled the childcare news conference.
The announcement would have been a boost for the B.C. NDP government, which is struggling to afford the $10-a-day child-care plan promised during last May’s election.
The NDP government has said it will need federal help to fund the plan.
It’s unclear if Ottawa’s move was in retaliation for B.C.’s threats about the pipeline.
A joint news conference on the eve of the Feb. 20 provincial budget, in which details of B.C.’s childcare program will be revealed, could have been a visible show of support for Premier John Horgan’s ambitions. The provincial federal deal was instead quietly posted to a subsection of the B.C. government’s website on Friday. B.C. will still get the money. “The federal government has assured us the event is delayed just for now,” Horgan’s office said in a statement Wednesday. “We continue to have good working relationships across ministries on a range of issues. We’re also continuing our dialogue with the federal government on Kinder Morgan, which includes a meeting today between federal and provincial officials.”
Horgan was asked after his throne speech Tuesday whether his pipeline fight would affect provincial-federal relations, including federal money for child care and transit.
He said he did not think that would be a problem.
On Wednesday, Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said “Ottawa has a lot of discretion in terms of whether they support projects in British Columbia. … Right now Premier Horgan has picked a fight in Alberta that he can’t win, and the government of Canada has approved a project he is now trying to block. That does not bode well for our relationship with Ottawa.”