Political reporter Jane Taber takes an inside look at the week in politics.
The dessert course: ice cream and equalization
New federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau has invited his provincial and territorial counterparts to dinner Sunday night in Ottawa as part of their annual December meeting, and it is believed he will run things a little differently than the Conservatives did.
It used to be that the finance ministers would find out how much their governments were getting in health, social and equalization transfers from the federal government at the dinner.
In fact, an envelope containing the exact number would be given to each finance minister, typically during the dessert course, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa recalls.
It was an odd way of running the country, but that’s how Stephen Harper and his Conservatives engaged with the provinces.
“But, I believe this year Bill Morneau is going to be more adult about it and we’ll just get something released beforehand,” Mr. Sousa says. In fact, the equalization amounts are expected to be released before the Sunday night dinner and the ministers’ meeting on Monday.
“The long, dark, stormy night seems over now. It is dawn in Canada,” Mr. Sousa says of the change, and how the transfers will unfold under the new Liberal government. He remembered his first dinner with his finance colleagues – it was 2013, and Jim Flaherty was the federal finance minister.
“I’m a newbie. I get this envelope and I’m looking around at all my colleagues, they all get one and they open it up. I open mine and my jaw dropped. I go, ‘You’re kidding me. You’re kidding me.’ I knew what we were expecting and I got what we thought. Then … some of the other provinces got billions more. You’re kidding me …”
“That is not going to happen this time around,” he said.
Mr. Sousa and Premier Kathleen Wynne were upset with Ontario’s share that year. Ms. Wynne said the Harper government shortchanged her province to balance its own budget. The Premier and Mr. Harper did not have a good relationship.
“It’s a real different mood,” Mr. Sousa said of the new government. “It’s different. I’m encouraged by Bill Moreau reaching out … to recognize we have to operate a little differently and plan effectively.”
Will they or won’t they
There is speculation now about whether former senior Conservative cabinet ministers Peter MacKay and Jason Kenney will run for the party leadership. While Mr. Kenney is still an MP, Mr. MacKay is out of the House of Commons. He announced last May that he would not run in the October election, but is still without a job. Sources close to him say he is considering a run at the leadership, and has received offers from several big law firms, including in his home province of Nova Scotia, and in Toronto. An announcement about his new job is expected soon.
A recent Abacus Data survey had Mr. MacKay way out front in the leadership race, although no date has been set, nor has anyone officially declared. Jean Charest, the former Quebec premier and federal Progressive Conservative leader, is second. Mr. Kenney and Lisa Raitt, the former transport minister and now Conservative finance critic, are tied for third place.
Mr. Kenney was coy about his intentions. “I agree with the consensus in the party that we should take our time, and not rush into a leadership campaign,” he wrote in a Twitter message. Ms. Raitt and her former colleagues in cabinet, Tony Clement and Kellie Leitch, are also looking at their options.
Meanwhile, at its policy convention in Vancouver in May, the party will insist that anyone serving on the national council be neutral in the leadership. That would prevent the national council elections, which will take place at the May convention, from becoming referendums on leadership. The candidates for the council positions will have to sign declarations of neutrality, according to a Conservative source. This new measure was recently passed by the national council.