Source: Don't cut payments, Wall says
<H2>Don't cut payments, Wall says
James Wood, Saskatchewan News Network; Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Premier Brad Wall will be offering support but also a warning to Stephen Harper at the Nov. 10 First Ministers conference called by the prime minister on Tuesday.
Wall said the provinces are behind federal efforts to strengthen Canada's financial system and economy in light of the economic turmoil currently facing the world.
But as the Conservative government contemplates budget cuts or a potential deficit, the premier said it must avoid chopping transfer payments to the provinces.
"I think we've seen the folly of federal budgets being balanced on the backs of provincial transfer payments in the past when it happened in the 1990s, because eventually those things, there had to be redress, the federal government had to fix those imbalances," Wall told reporters at the provincial legislature.
Wall said there are areas of federal-provincial duplication of services where the federal government could cut instead, such as "environmental processes." He said there could still be "very onerous" environmental regulations with less bureaucracy.
This will be the first formal First Ministers conference held by Harper, who won another minority government in the Oct. 15 federal election.
Wall is seen as having a particularly close relationship to Harper, while other premiers, such as Newfoundland and Labrador's Danny Williams have relationships with the PM that could only be charitably called frosty.
Wall warns against any federal policies that favour one region over another in response to the economic crisis but said provinces are stressing unity.
Wall said this meeting is not the appropriate venue to raise the province's concerns with the Conservative call to ban the export of raw bitumen to countries that have worse greenhouse gas emission standards than Canada.
</H2>
I wonder how Steven Harper will spank Danny Williams over this next term without punishing
the people of Newfoundland for this "ABC" thing...Everyone has to know it's coming, but how it
will reveal itself is the interesting question. Any guesses???
<H2>Don't cut payments, Wall says
James Wood, Saskatchewan News Network; Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Premier Brad Wall will be offering support but also a warning to Stephen Harper at the Nov. 10 First Ministers conference called by the prime minister on Tuesday.
Wall said the provinces are behind federal efforts to strengthen Canada's financial system and economy in light of the economic turmoil currently facing the world.
But as the Conservative government contemplates budget cuts or a potential deficit, the premier said it must avoid chopping transfer payments to the provinces.
"I think we've seen the folly of federal budgets being balanced on the backs of provincial transfer payments in the past when it happened in the 1990s, because eventually those things, there had to be redress, the federal government had to fix those imbalances," Wall told reporters at the provincial legislature.
Wall said there are areas of federal-provincial duplication of services where the federal government could cut instead, such as "environmental processes." He said there could still be "very onerous" environmental regulations with less bureaucracy.
This will be the first formal First Ministers conference held by Harper, who won another minority government in the Oct. 15 federal election.
Wall is seen as having a particularly close relationship to Harper, while other premiers, such as Newfoundland and Labrador's Danny Williams have relationships with the PM that could only be charitably called frosty.
Wall warns against any federal policies that favour one region over another in response to the economic crisis but said provinces are stressing unity.
Wall said this meeting is not the appropriate venue to raise the province's concerns with the Conservative call to ban the export of raw bitumen to countries that have worse greenhouse gas emission standards than Canada.
</H2>
I wonder how Steven Harper will spank Danny Williams over this next term without punishing
the people of Newfoundland for this "ABC" thing...Everyone has to know it's coming, but how it
will reveal itself is the interesting question. Any guesses???
