While Canada’s premiers disagreed about many things during their three-day meeting in Halifax, they were all on the same page when it came to one subject: the federal government needs to stay out of their jurisdiction.
“Every federal budget, we see more and more new programs in provincial jurisdictions. Enough is enough,” Quebec Premier François Legault said on July 15.
Over the course of three days, the premiers brought up concerns they had about Ottawa’s national school food program, the dental care program, and the decision to lift the moratorium on cod fishing, arguing the federal government is interfering with issues that are provincial jurisdiction.
At the press conference following their meeting on July 17, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said Ottawa has shown a “lack of collaboration” with the provinces and territories, which has resulted in several missed opportunities. “That risks pitting provinces and territories, and really Canadians, against one another,” added Mr. Houston.
Mr. Houston, who chaired this year’s meeting, said the provinces and territories want Ottawa to work with them as “active partners” when developing and executing federal programs, and later clarified the federal government needs to “leave provincial jurisdiction issues to the provinces.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford expressed the provinces’ position in his signature blunt manner. “Something’s broken. They’re wasting taxpayers’ money.”
Throughout the hour-long press conference and in prior scrums with reporters, the 13 premiers highlighted a number of areas where they say Ottawa has interfered in areas of provincial responsibility. Mr. Ford addressed the $1 billion school food program, which the Liberal government says will give meals to 400,000 children every year.
“This is a resource that has been nursed back to good health by the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and does not deserve to be caught by Russian trawlers, and no offence to any other foreign countries,” he said. “This resource belongs to Canadians, it belongs to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told reporters on July 15 that while the Alberta government currently has a “5,000-drug” pharmacare plan, the federal government wants to implement a national pharmacies plan that only covers two categories of drugs. She also took aim at Ottawa’s proposed dental care program, saying her government would not do away with its current dental plan for “a program that’s only existed for five minutes.”
“This is what they do all the time, is that they offer a tiny bit of money and then make the provinces cover the lion’s share of the bill,” she said. “If they want to help us rather than duplicate the administration, so that more dollars actually get to people, they should be working with us rather than trying to create new programs.”
The federal government has said that it has campaigned on the programs it has introduced, and that it’s working with the provinces to implement them.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
