March 29, 2005
Rift widens between federal and provincial Liberals
Premier gets cold shoulder from his federal cousins
OTTAWA
The Liberal premier of Ontario got brushed off by his federal cousins as MPs refused last week to grant Dalton McGuinty a meeting on federal-provincial cash transfers.
A rift between provincial and federal Liberals widened when Ontario MPs rejected a request McGuinty made weeks earlier to meet with them behind closed doors.
He hoped to enlist them in his battle against Ottawa over the $23-billion gap between what Ontario pays into the federation and gets back in transfer payments.
But federal Liberals are dismissing his attacks as an attempt to deflect blame for the multibillion-dollar deficit that will likely appear in the upcoming provincial budget.
McGuinty made a phone call to the federal Liberals’ Ontario caucus chair, Sarmite Bulte, and requested a meeting earlier this month.
She checked with her colleagues and concluded there wasn’t much appetite for one.
“Why should we react because Dalton McGuinty has decided he wants to have an argument with his federal Liberal cousins in public?’’ said Toronto-area MP Sarmite Bulte, who announced her decision last week at a closed-door gathering of Liberal MPs.
“It’s unfortunate that Mr. McGuinty has decided to make this into a media event and we’re not prepared to play the same game,’’ she said in an interview.
The current squabble has re-opened old wounds that were first laid bare last year, when Ontario delivered a bad-news provincial budget on the eve of a federal election campaign.
Outraged Ontario voters fumed at McGuinty for breaking a key campaign promise not to raise taxes, and many federal Liberals feel they suffered at the polls as a result.
Prime Minister Paul Martin publicly distanced himself from McGuinty during the campaign.
It’s clear federal bitterness still lingers.
“That cost us 10 seats in Ontario,’’ said one MP, who suggested the Liberals’ reduced minority status was largely McGuinty’s fault.
Another MP said the federal Liberals will do everything they can to distance themselves from the premier.
“People have been calling him a liar since the day he got elected — he didn’t keep any of his promises,’’ said the Ontario Liberal, who asked not to be identified.
But an aide to McGuinty said Ontario Liberals will not abandon their campaign in the face of disdain from their federal allies.
“We will not go away on this,” said the senior official.
“(The feds) can not bury their heads in the sand ... Ontarians know that too much of their money is being spent by the federal government in other provinces.’’
Infrastructure Minister John Godfrey derided the complaint from Ontario, comparing it to a rich person who gripes about paying taxes.
“They’re lucky enough to be prosperous — it’s a function of prosperity,’’ Godfrey said of Ontario’s contribution, which helps poorer regions of the country.
“I agree that one could play this game — this blame game — but it’s not very helpful.”
The current squabble is reminiscent of the federal-provincial battle with Newfoundland over equalization.
Premier Danny Williams stomped out of two meetings with his federal counterparts, ordered the Maple Leaf lowered at the provincial legislature, and ultimately walked away with about $2 billion under a new equalization agreement with Ottawa.
The cash helped Williams announce an extra $180 million for health care this week in his provincial budget, which also promised a new arts and culture centre for St. John’s.
The Canadian Press
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