Trudeau could hold meeting with premiers next month

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This article was published 21/10/2015 (3681 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — A six-year drought of first ministers’ meetings could end within weeks of Justin Trudeau being sworn in as prime minister, the Free Press has learned.

Officials with Trudeau’s transition team and provincial governments are trying to figure out if Trudeau can meet with all the premiers ahead of the United Nations climate change conference in Paris in early December.

Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger said Manitoba officials have been asked to look at possible dates but there is nothing set and it’s up to Trudeau to announce it.

“There is the potential for a first ministers’ meeting before Paris,” said Selinger to the Free Press Wednesday.

Selinger spoke to Trudeau Wednesday afternoon for the first time since Monday’s election. He offered his congratulations and said the climate change conference was the main topic although issues such as Shoal Lake’s freedom road and an inquiry for murdered and missing Indigenous women also came up.

Trudeau and his new cabinet will take over Nov. 4. The UN meeting, known as COP21, starts Nov. 30. Trudeau is also likely to attend the G20 summit in mid-November in Turkey, so the timeline for a first ministers’ meeting would be tight.

During his press conference with reporters in Ottawa Tuesday, Trudeau said he planned to consult with premiers before heading to Paris but wouldn’t indicate whether it would be individually or as a group.

“I will be engaging with the premiers in the coming weeks to establish a strong position for Canada so that people know that Canada’s years of being a less than enthusiastic actor on the climate-change file are behind us,” he said.

Last meeting in 2009

The premiers have expressed frustration for years that Prime Minister Stephen Harper wouldn’t attend first minister meetings.

He met with all the premiers as a group four times, the last in January 2009 to discuss the economy during the previous recession.

Selinger said Harper preferred to do things one-on-one and there were some good meetings that way. But he said on some issues, such as developing a national strategy to cut emissions and slow climate change, group discussions can be better.

“We always do better when we work together,” said Selinger.

Five years ago Selinger promised legislation to create a cap-and-trade system in Manitoba, but he said last spring that was on hold for now. In 2013, Manitoba hired the International Institute for Sustainable Development to help it shepherd in new targets in consultation with the public and industry. Those targets are supposed to be released before Selinger goes to Paris in December.

Canada set new emissions targets last spring but they were widely panned internationally for not being aggressive enough.

The new targets are for 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Trudeau has not said what his targets will be, except that Canada’s plan will be established in consultation with the premiers.

Canada’s emissions fell in 2008 and 2009 during the recession, but have grown every year since 2010.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca