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After more than a year of public sniping, the leader of the country finally met with the leader of the biggest province.
Premier Kathleen Wynne has spent months accusing Prime Minister Stephen Harper of slighting her, while she took shots at him. But 24 hours after last night’s face to face, the question many are asking is — why meet now? The reason, according to one political analyst is simple. An election is coming, and Ontario has a lot of key seats.
Not long after he was elected, Toronto’s new mayor sat down for a chat with Stephen Harper. But the premier of the province started writing public letters when the federal leader dodged an encounter with her for more than a year. She says he only recently proposed this meeting: “There had been a back and forth, and on Friday, they said the PM would be in town and we could meet.”
She won’t speculate on why now, but political scientist Nelson Wiseman says it’s because this is a federal election year: “He’s gotta’ build up his constituency in Ontario because the election pivots on this province. Every time she calls and says I’d like to meet the PM and he rebuffs her, he looks spiteful. He’s been meeting other premiers, American governors, he was meeting John Tory when John Tory was just a candidate for mayor.”
According to Wynne, the meeting was productive. She says the two leaders agreed on many things; the First Nations need for clean water, the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, continuing to build auto sector alliances, and that mining minerals in the so-called ‘Ring of Fire’ will require a federal infrastructure investment. Wynne says she feels optimistic about those issues: “Did we get commitments? No. Those are ongoing discussions. But it reinforces that we have to work together and for me that’s a tangible result.”
Wynne says they still have their differences: “He made it clear he still doesn’t agree with ORP (Ontario Registered Pension Plan). But I knew that. We are moving ahead with implementation of a pension plan.”
But the prime minister’s office says the two leaders have agreed to keep in touch.
