Premiers lay out priorities for Trudeau

Thestar.com
Oct. 20, 2015
By Allan Woods

In his first day on the job, Canada's provinces handed Justin Trudeau a long list of priorities he will be expected to tackle ranging from possible constitutional changes, to the drafting of a robust climate change plan, to a new way of assessing controversial pipeline projects.

Just hours after Prime Minister-elect Trudeau's Liberal party won a majorityof seats across the country premiers said they were optimistic about a promised first minister's meeting, but also anxious to get on with the business of the nation.

But that could mean headaches for Trudeau, who is already facing competing interests before having had the chance to picking through his 184-member caucus to form a cabinet.

Beyond the demands for more money in equalization payments, health transfers and infrastructure funding, the main fault line would appear to be the pro-pipeline provinces versus those for which climate change is the pressing issue.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard said he expects the Trudeau government to develop more ambitious emissions-reduction targets ahead of a United Nations climate conference in Paris this December.

“The targets were submitted by the Canadian government without the consultation of the provinces and those targets are in fact much lower than what we in Quebec will be promising,” he said.

“I think there is time before December ... to address the targets that Canada has presented, to have a conversation about it, and to arrive (at the conference) with a strong position.”

Going green would appear to clash with the powerful oil industry and the wishes of Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, who was pushing for oil-pipeline approvals to help get western oil to market even before the votes were counted Monday.

New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant also wants the Energy East pipeline approved. Controversial in Ontario and Quebec, the project would take western oil to east coast refineries and could create many new jobs in the province.

“We know how to do it safely. We know how to do it in a way that will protect the environment. We certainly know how to do it so that it creates jobs in the short term and ensure our economic development,” Gallant said.

Trudeau may find an unlikely ally in Alberta's NDP Premier Rachel Notley as he struggles to find a balance between energy and the environment. She is currently re-drafting Alberta’s climate plan amid groans from nervous oil investors.

“There are very good chances we can collaborate with the new federal government on key issues. There may be others where we don’t agree,” she said.

Trudeau could also see some of his father's unfinished business come across his desk. Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau repatriated the Canadian Constitution over the objections of Rene Levesque's sovereigntist Parti Quebecois government in 1982. Three decades later, Quebec has still not signed on.

Trudeau’s plan to fix the Senate and improve relations with First Nations could both offer a window to deal with the historic slight as both the upper chamber and aboriginal relations are written into the Constitution. Handled poorly, it could also breathe new life into aggrieved Quebec sovereigntists.

Still, Couillard said the election showed the continued decline of the independence movement, which picked up seats but won fewer votes than in 2011.

Trudeau’s term, then, could also be the chance for Quebec-led by a very pro-Canada Couillard-to sign the Constitution, perhaps in advance of country’s 150th anniversary in 2017. The only catch is that conditions such as the province’s distinct nature be recognized, said Couillard.

“If there is a call for Constitutional talks coming from others, such as First Nations or other provinces, or about other issues, we will only participate in them if Quebec's issues are on the table.”