M
Mike in TO
Guest
What PM, premier discussed at secret talks
Nov. 8, 2006. 01:00 AM
IAN URQUHART
The phone call to Premier Dalton McGuinty from Prime Minister Stephen Harper came at 6 p.m. last Thursday. McGuinty was attending a provincial Liberal fundraiser in Windsor, so he didn't connect with Harper until he was on his way to the airport three hours later.
It was then that Harper invited McGuinty to a meeting.
The two leaders had been hurling grenades at each other for more than a week. McGuinty had called Harper's government "a recurring nightmare" (because the federal cabinet includes ministers from the former Mike Harris regime at Queen's Park), among other things.
In response, the Harperites accused McGuinty of "grandstanding" and cancelled a meeting with Ontario's minister responsible for native affairs after he had already arrived in Ottawa.
In short, relations between the two governments appeared to have reached a nadir.
At that point, McGuinty and his staff faced two options: escalate the conflict, perhaps with an advertising campaign, or call Harper and seek a truce.
Interestingly, it was Harper who called McGuinty to suggest a meeting over brunch at 24 Sussex last Saturday. Harper set a condition on the invitation, to which McGuinty agreed: There would be no advance publicity of the meeting.
An aside: When it comes to McGuinty, Harper seems to prefer skulking around. In their two meetings prior to last Saturday, one was unpublicized and the other was held on the condition that no cameras be allowed to record the event.
The ban prevailed even after their meeting last Saturday. There was no press release or announcement of any kind. Harper's office would not even confirm the meeting had taken place.
But it did, and provincial sources say that several matters of substance were discussed, including:
Fiscal imbalance. Harper reportedly agreed to meet McGuinty partway on his demands that federal transfers be distributed on an equal per capita basis. One area where Harper would not budge was health care. These transfers will continue to be doled out on an unequal basis, with Ontario being shortchanged by about $650 million.
Infrastructure. Harper reportedly indicated that a major new federal infrastructure program is forthcoming that will be weighted in favour of Ontario to help with improvements at border crossings, especially Windsor-Detroit. Harper had little to say, however, on the proposed extension of the Spadina subway to York University, for which Ontario is seeking federal support.
Caledonia. Harper reportedly undertook to consider sharing the escalating cost of policing the volatile situation in Caledonia, as was done at a previous native standoff in Oka, Que., where the army actually took over responsibility. There was no talk of sending the army to Caledonia, but Ottawa might begin putting up some cash.
Harmonization of sales taxes. Harper reportedly threw out the idea of harmonizing the GST with the provincial sales tax, so that there would be one tax collector: Ottawa. The harmonization would be rolled out in the next federal budget, along with a further cut to the GST.
This would be a boon for business, which hates the red tape of two parallel tax systems, and it would allow the provincial government to save millions on the cost of running its own tax-collection system.
In the short run, harmonization could mean less revenue for Ontario, but Ottawa would make up the shortfall, as it did with the eastern Canadian provinces when they harmonized their sales taxes with the GST.
But there would be a political downside for McGuinty and the provincial Liberals as the GST covers various goods and services on which there is no provincial sales tax, including three controversial items — books, home heating fuel, and feminine hygiene products.
Thus, McGuinty was reportedly non-committal on this item.
Intriguingly, the war of words between the two governments was not discussed at the meeting, so there was no explicit deal between the two leaders to dial down the volume. But there may have been a tacit understanding, judging from the absence of incendiary remarks from either side over the past few days.
However, McGuinty still plans to send Harper a letter outlining his argument for per capita transfers for health care, even though Harper turned him down in their meeting.
And why not? If last week's phone call proved anything, it is that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, if not a public meeting.
Nov. 8, 2006. 01:00 AM
IAN URQUHART
The phone call to Premier Dalton McGuinty from Prime Minister Stephen Harper came at 6 p.m. last Thursday. McGuinty was attending a provincial Liberal fundraiser in Windsor, so he didn't connect with Harper until he was on his way to the airport three hours later.
It was then that Harper invited McGuinty to a meeting.
The two leaders had been hurling grenades at each other for more than a week. McGuinty had called Harper's government "a recurring nightmare" (because the federal cabinet includes ministers from the former Mike Harris regime at Queen's Park), among other things.
In response, the Harperites accused McGuinty of "grandstanding" and cancelled a meeting with Ontario's minister responsible for native affairs after he had already arrived in Ottawa.
In short, relations between the two governments appeared to have reached a nadir.
At that point, McGuinty and his staff faced two options: escalate the conflict, perhaps with an advertising campaign, or call Harper and seek a truce.
Interestingly, it was Harper who called McGuinty to suggest a meeting over brunch at 24 Sussex last Saturday. Harper set a condition on the invitation, to which McGuinty agreed: There would be no advance publicity of the meeting.
An aside: When it comes to McGuinty, Harper seems to prefer skulking around. In their two meetings prior to last Saturday, one was unpublicized and the other was held on the condition that no cameras be allowed to record the event.
The ban prevailed even after their meeting last Saturday. There was no press release or announcement of any kind. Harper's office would not even confirm the meeting had taken place.
But it did, and provincial sources say that several matters of substance were discussed, including:
Fiscal imbalance. Harper reportedly agreed to meet McGuinty partway on his demands that federal transfers be distributed on an equal per capita basis. One area where Harper would not budge was health care. These transfers will continue to be doled out on an unequal basis, with Ontario being shortchanged by about $650 million.
Infrastructure. Harper reportedly indicated that a major new federal infrastructure program is forthcoming that will be weighted in favour of Ontario to help with improvements at border crossings, especially Windsor-Detroit. Harper had little to say, however, on the proposed extension of the Spadina subway to York University, for which Ontario is seeking federal support.
Caledonia. Harper reportedly undertook to consider sharing the escalating cost of policing the volatile situation in Caledonia, as was done at a previous native standoff in Oka, Que., where the army actually took over responsibility. There was no talk of sending the army to Caledonia, but Ottawa might begin putting up some cash.
Harmonization of sales taxes. Harper reportedly threw out the idea of harmonizing the GST with the provincial sales tax, so that there would be one tax collector: Ottawa. The harmonization would be rolled out in the next federal budget, along with a further cut to the GST.
This would be a boon for business, which hates the red tape of two parallel tax systems, and it would allow the provincial government to save millions on the cost of running its own tax-collection system.
In the short run, harmonization could mean less revenue for Ontario, but Ottawa would make up the shortfall, as it did with the eastern Canadian provinces when they harmonized their sales taxes with the GST.
But there would be a political downside for McGuinty and the provincial Liberals as the GST covers various goods and services on which there is no provincial sales tax, including three controversial items — books, home heating fuel, and feminine hygiene products.
Thus, McGuinty was reportedly non-committal on this item.
Intriguingly, the war of words between the two governments was not discussed at the meeting, so there was no explicit deal between the two leaders to dial down the volume. But there may have been a tacit understanding, judging from the absence of incendiary remarks from either side over the past few days.
However, McGuinty still plans to send Harper a letter outlining his argument for per capita transfers for health care, even though Harper turned him down in their meeting.
And why not? If last week's phone call proved anything, it is that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, if not a public meeting.