By Ray Rivers
November 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Before the British North American colonies converged into a new nation, Ontario and Quebec shared history as the united ‘Province of Canada’. The Act of Union in 1840 brought together the former Upper and Lower Canadian colonies into a union which lasted until confederation in 1867. This union gave birth to the responsible government in the colonies, involving both English and French Canadians despite occasional disagreements, as in 1849, when rebelling Tories burned the provincial capital buildings in Montreal.
The hanging of Louis Riel created a major rift between Quebec, the aboriginal community and the federal government that to some degree still exists today
Ontario and Quebec have had their disagreements; Louis Riel, conscription, liquor marketing restrictions and cross border labour disputes – but there has always been a fraternal amity, not unlike that between the western provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Premiers Robarts, Davis, Peterson, McGuinty and Wynne were always strong promoters of Quebecers’ interests in Canada including through those troubling periods when Quebec was threatening to leave the federation.
So it is gratifying that Premiers Wynne and Couillard are taking steps to bump up their cooperation on language policy, climate change, electrical energy and strengthening the central Canadian economy. This sounds like a no-brainer though and provincial residents should thank the Prime Minister, if only because the federal government’s neglect is the spark that has driven this initiative. After all, Mr. Harper has spent virtually no political capital on central Canada’s economy, rather focusing his energy on the further development of the Alberta tar sands
Ontario and Quebec make up about 60% of the country’s population and its gross domestic product (GDP). So expanding trade between them should help expand their economies and allow them to pay down their debts. New approaches to sharing electrical grids will help keep electricity rates in check, which is good for the economies as well as the rate payers. But what would really help is a much needed boost to infrastructure, transportation infrastructure in particular, to keep their major cities from choking on their own success.
Throughout history the federal government has always been the driving force in the economic development of this country. It was the feds who gave us our national railways (and have since sold them off) that brought B.C. into the federation and bound us all together. The TransCanada highway is the centre piece of Canada’s national road transportation system. Environmental management across the country was only made possible with federal resources to build water and waste water facilities. The federal government (Trudeau) even salvaged the oil sands when Alberta was ready to throw in the towel, in its earlier days.
So, in keeping with that tradition the Harper government, a few years ago, announced a program to help the provinces fund their growing infrastructure needs. But Ontario’s share is less than three billion dollars while the provincial government needs to spend about $130 billion dollars over the next decade.
The “Ring of Fire”; the name given to a part of the province that is believed to be rich in natural resources but cannot be reached because there are no roads into that part of the province. Ontario wants federal government help to build those roads. The federal government wants pipe lines to move tar sands bitumen from Alberta to the east coast.
Then there is the ‘Ring of Fire’.
The so-called ‘Ring of Fire’, site of potentially billions of dollars worth of valuable minerals, lies about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, but is currently inaccessible except by helicopter or canoe and portage. Both Ottawa and Toronto agree on the need to develop this resource and the Province estimates about a billion dollars is needed for a transportation system. The federal government has decided that this should come out of Ontario’s piddly $3 billion in that infrastructure fund – and therein lies just another disagreement between Canada and its largest province.
Premier Wynne has requested a meeting with the PM to talk about this matter among others. But Harper is refusing to meet her because he can see no benefit in helping a provincial Liberal government improve its economy. So he’s got nothing to say and no more money to offer. That is, no more money for Ontario if he is going to balance his budget; give another $2 billion in tax cuts to reasonably well-off Canadian families; and keep his fighter jets running missions in Iraq.
Then there is that Ontario pension program which Wynne has decided to undertake, all on her own, since the feds refuse to undertake much needed upgrades to the existing Canada Pension Plan.
And there is Premier Wynne’s demand for a more equitable share of the federal equalization program, now, when the province needs the money most. But then Ontario just voted Liberal in the last election – so who can blame the Conservative PM for not wanting to help her out.
Canada’s record on climate change is abysmal. We had once gained considerable reputation as a front-seat participant in different forums dealing with the the global issue. But Canada has surrendered its commitment to the Kyoto protocol and is unlikely to meet even the softer targets the Harper government recently set. Still, the PM likes to take credit for the recent modest improvement in emissions statistics, notwithstanding his ‘full-speed-ahead’ on oil sands development and the pipelines he envisions to move all that oil.
And any reductions of greenhouse gas (GHG) carbon emissions which Canada can boast about are almost entirely due to Ontario’s green energy program and the shut down of coal-fired electricity – an initiative which Ottawa refused to help finance. In fact Ontario and Quebec are the only two jurisdictions in Canada which have significantly reduced their GHG emissions over the years, again without help from the current federal government.
Premiers Wynne of Ontario and Couillard of Quebec have begun to work together to protect the economic interests of Central Canada
Mr. Harper’s party managed to pull a couple of wins in the recent by-elections, one of them in Ontario. The general election this coming year will be a greater test for his government. It will be an opportunity to discuss climate change, energy policy and infrastructure in a way that they were not debated in the by-elections.
It is unlikely that Mr. Harper will lose much political support in his western home base over his almost antagonistic approach to the rest of Canada, However voters in central and coastal portions of the country will need to ask themselves what they have been getting out of this confederation. And do we need to rethink the make-up of the political union we call Canada – as Quebec and Ontario seem to be doing. Or do we just change the channel at the polling booth.
Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province.
Background links:
Infrastructure Quebec-Ontario Partnership Canadian Federalism
Respect Ontario History Federal Infrastructure Program
More Infrastructure Even More Infra Ring of Fire
Liberals have managed to turn Ontario into a have not province. Good job. Won’t be too long before (outrageously rich in resources) Ontario’s electricity costs will surpass most people mortgages.
It was billions and billions. Never forget all of Dalton’s Waste, his corruption, his disaster left for Ontario taxpayers. For any thinking Ontarian (except teachers) to still be a Liberal is like an American supporting Obama. (teachers are “special”, they were brought up “special”, educated “special”, work “special” will retire “special”. They are good Liberals and “special”). Gotta get a “Special Interest Group” going for myself. That’ll do it. I might call it “Dying…Paying for Your Greed”.
Ahhhhh…….that wasted billion dollar plus that was stolen from the tax payers to buy a couple of seats sure could have gone a long way in developing the Ring of Fire. My how quickly we forget.
Ray, You lost me when you linked Stephen Harper to the “tar sands” and Pierre Trudeau to the “oil sands”. Okay, I get it. You are a good Liberal. Five red stars for you! Along with a picture of Marx. (Groucho or Karl, take your pick).
Under McGuinty and now Wynne, Ontario has spent itself into its own demise. It has squandered our hard-earned taxes to buy re-election time after time. It is not the responsibility of Ottawa bail out incompetence nor to un-fairly provide stimulus in the midst of corruption and waste. Ontario is now, proudly under the Liberal flag, a have-not Province. We have been weakened and it is sad. It is not the fault of Ottawa, it is the fault of Queen’s Park.
Now, follow the money when it comes to all the “do-gooding” that Wynne will try to strangle the west for over energy east. It isn’t about concerns, its about money. More money for the Liberal cronies.
I anticipate Prime Minister Harper will win a resounding majority next year largely due to the re-emergence of common sense Ontario.
Bill, thanks for your comment. Ontario and Quebec have put reasonable conditions ahead of the pipeline extension running through these provinces, much like B.C. and other jurisdictions have done.
You may have noticed this quotation from an industry spokesperson in that same G&M article…“That is not a roadblock; it’s an invitation,” Brenda Kenny, chief executive of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association told The Globe and Mail’s editorial board.”
Ray, You have omitted an important nation building potential project. The Trans Canada Highway helped unite the country years ago.
Today, the Trans Canada energy east pipeline could unite us again, except for Wynne and Couillard who put obstacles in its way.
Perhaps you should report what Brad Wall, Premier of Saskatchewan, has to say about this project being stonewalled by Ontario & Quebec.
What I don’t understand is why don’t we build our own refineries, process the oil into ourselves and sell the products. Think of all the truly new well paying jobs that would create. Why do we want to sell it as crude for someone else to refine and profit? Safer, profitable and good for the economy. More money in Ottawa & provincial coffers via personal, corporate and add the taxes from spin off jobs and services. Now there’s a way to reduce debt and not need to cut services to Canadians.
I enjoyed this article Ray. With Ottawa’s insistence in recent years about this or that issue/responsibility falling under provincial jurisdiction I wonder just what do they believe their role in Canada’s governance might be.
Might the term “smaller government” be an euphemism for a total reworking of federalism?