Premier makes historic national assembly speech
Wynne is the first premier outside Quebec to address their provincial legislature
Ontario’s first female premier has made a little history once again.
Kathleen Wynne on Thursday became the first premier from outside Quebec to address the national assembly in Quebec City.
On the eve of the seventh annual joint cabinet meeting with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard’s ministers, Wynne told parliamentarians she was “deeply honoured” to be invited to speak there.
“I recognize that this is a symbolic moment, a historic moment. Two years ago, my friend Premier Couillard gave an excellent speech to the Ontario Legislature,” she said, speaking in both French and English.
Wynne noted that Canada’s two most-populous provinces have inked “important agreements on trade, on energy and on climate change,” the latter of which also includes California. Gov. Jerry Brown will join the two premiers on Friday to discuss the cap-and-trade accord.
“We, in Ontario, understand the pivotal dynamic between two founding peoples and our shared relationship with the Indigenous people whose history on this land long exceeds our own,” the premier said.
“We commend the efforts of this assembly, and all Quebecers, to defend and promote the distinct character of Quebec, and, formally and informally, to advance the rights of francophones from coast to coast to coast and around the world,” said Wynne, who noted that there are 600,000 Franco-Ontarians.
Because Friday’s joint cabinet meeting will be the final one before the June 7, 2018, Ontario election, Wynne’s speech had a partisan edge.
“We are being tested in new and unique ways. From technology to (U.S. President Donald) Trump, it is a time of greater uncertainty and change,” she said.
“It falls to governments to show leadership — to show that they have a plan to respond,” Wynne said in a veiled shot at rookie Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown, who leads in public opinion polls. “We are raising the minimum wage to $14 this coming year and $15 in 2019. We are introducing new measures to ensure fair workplaces . . . workplaces where employers meet their obligations to their workers.”