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Premiers promise not to gang up on Harper at meeting in Halifax

Canada's premiers including P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz are meeting in Halifax later this week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Canada's premiers including P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz are meeting in Halifax later this week.

Published on November 20, 2012
Published on November 20, 2012
The Canadian Press  RSS Feed
Topics :
House of Commons , Halifax , Nova Scotia , Ottawa

Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter says the premiers won’t gang up on Prime Minister Stephen Harper if he decides to attend a provincial and territorial leaders meeting later this week in Halifax.

But Stephen Harper isn’t interested.

The Prime Minister’s Office has once again confirmed Harper has no plans to attend the meeting Thursday and Friday, even though the premiers have asked him to attend their economic forum.

Harper’s director of communications, Andrew MacDougall, says the prime minister will be in the House of Commons this week “tending to the business of the nation.”

MacDougall says the prime minister meets with premiers regularly when they come to Ottawa and when he travels the country.

Dexter says he understands Harper is reluctant to attend, but the premier stressed that this meeting is designed to avoid pitting the premiers against the prime minister over money.

 

Comments

  • Username
    Karen
    - November 21, 2012 at 12:16:46

    You complainers have to get off the Island very soon and see what is happening in the rest of Canada (Ontario and west). There is just too much doom and gloom on PEI ( no EI, can't sell the potatoes, tourism is down and so on). In Alberta there is work for all, gas is less than $1.00 per litre, much less income tax, food is the same or less than on PEI, no HST. I could go on. Oh yes, there are 130000 workers required in the oilfields over the next 7 years - not to mention the spinoff jobs to be created. So enough about the government not doing enough for you and do something for yourselves, please.

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  • Username
    karma
    - November 21, 2012 at 11:51:09

    There has never been a premier's conference yet - where these midget politicians did not gang up on PMs Liberal or Conservative. They have no interest in policy matters - only grandstanding and showboating for the voters back home. Nothing is accomplished. All the sqawking is because the chickens had their heads cut off, when Harper, unlike other PMs, simply said frig that and deprived them of a national spotlight. As for the lame stream media yowling about this - they're mad because the PM would rather deal with the local press like the Guardian and has successfully sidelined all the pundits in the Ottawa bubble. Looks good on them and the wannabe politicos like the premiers.

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  • Username
    Anne Bauman
    - November 21, 2012 at 01:41:54

    With respect, Harper doesn't care about Ontario or the west either. He can't meet with the premiers because he doesn't have a clue about his own job.

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  • Username
    pei is not a province
    - November 20, 2012 at 18:48:29

    Look at that buffoon Ghiz in this photo from the last Council of the Federation, pretending he's a premier. In reality he is no more important than the mayor of Moncton or the mayor of Red Deer. PEI does not and never has qualified to be a real province and it should have been folded into a larger province long ago. 7 provinces would make sense - merge PEI, NS and NB together.

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    • Username
      statler
      - November 21, 2012 at 04:04:38

      And here i was thinking that this article was writen about Harper The Great not giving the east coast a second tought. but you sir were able to write something all together different, not one word in the story even came close to ghiz's name (not that i even care) and another thing if you don't like P E I or the maritimes why not keep your petty comments to yourself, we the people who live in and like this part of canada don't need them

  • Username
    Don MacDonald
    - November 20, 2012 at 18:01:20

    Something wrong with the picture---Premier Charest???

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  • Username
    Joe Blow
    - November 20, 2012 at 17:56:12

    Stephen Harper has no interest in anything Atlantic Canada has to offer!! He is totally against every person East of Ontario. He only cares about the Western provinces. Harper thinks that if he ignores the Maritimes long enough and takes everything away from the people that they will be forced to move out west....well I have no plans of ever leaving PEI and there are many people like me...so he may as well get used to the fact that we are important and start paying us the attention we deserve!!

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    • Username
      Sam Brace
      - November 20, 2012 at 19:39:49

      You are right Joe Blow. Harper indeed only cares about Ontario and the west. Its surprising that he even has one seat on PEI and that seat will be gone in the next election. For years he has been shafting NL and reneging on written deals. Goodbye King Stevie, - we really do not give a fiddlers damm if you come here or not. The Atlantic provinces are too good for your unethical ass anyway.

  • Username
    huckleberry farper
    - November 20, 2012 at 16:11:36

    The most important thing in the business of a country, business, family sphere, or any other group is COMMUNICATION. In order to run any type of group effectively, that is a MUST. Harper is being extremely foolish. Why is he so adverse to the sharing of ideas? He must know that the lack of dialogue will cause untold number of problems. The business of the nation (as Harper's toady puts it) INCLUDES the concerns of the Premiers, just as the concerns of a business includes dialogue between the company heads and the shareholders. Worst Prime Minister in Canadian history. Even Mulroney made more effort at dialogue than this guy.

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  • Username
    Observant
    - November 20, 2012 at 16:00:09

    The Premiers should have their conference and then ask the PM to comment on their conclusions... NOT invite him to muddle about in their provincial cesspools.

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  • Username
    Jacinta
    - November 20, 2012 at 13:46:18

    OH PLEASE DON'T BE SHY!

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  • Username
    Garth Staples
    - November 20, 2012 at 13:46:01

    Dear SANDRA---the actions and policies prove otherwise. More money and less interference. Just what the Premiers wanted. Now they just want more of your taxpayer dollars in an attempt save them from their own folly.

    Submit a comment

  • Username
    Sandra W.
    - November 20, 2012 at 13:34:21

    Harper is NOT interested in having anything to do with Atlantic Canada. That should be very evident to all Maritimers. st

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  • Username
    don
    - November 20, 2012 at 13:17:50

    oh so they are going to brown nose . most are good at that.

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