Williams, Harper meet in Ottawa

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams met quietly with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa on Tuesday.

The two politicians, who have had an often rancorous relationship for almost four years, held a closed-door meeting that covered several issues dear to Williams, including two energy megaprojects. The outcome of the meeting was not disclosed.

In a surprise announcement late Tuesday morning, Williams said he would meet with Harper and other key federal players, including Finance Minister Jim Flaherty,about several issues, including an ownership stake of the Hibernia oil development and the planned Lower Churchill hydroelectric megaproject.

The details of the meetings, however, are secret.

"It was a good and productive meeting that covered a wide range of issues," the Prime Minister's Office said afterwards.

Williams has had an often-nasty relationship with Harper, and before the 2008 federal election unleashed an "Anything but Conservative" campaign to defeat Harper's candidates in Newfoundland and Labrador.

But in recent months, relations between the two have significantly improved. Harper visited Williams in St. John's in January.

Williams said other issues on his agenda for the Tuesday meeting were the fishery and land-claim issuesin Labrador.

The provincial government has for years tried toobtain the federal government's 8.5 per cent ownership stake in Hibernia, which firstpumped oil in 1997. Since then, it has turned over billions of dollars in profits to its owners, including the federal government.

Williams, a Progressive Conservative who has often been described as a "red Tory," broke with Harper and the federal Conservatives in 2006, after Harper said he could not guarantee that Newfoundland and Labrador's oil revenues would be exempt from the equalization formula.

Williams warned there would be a "big goose egg" for Harper's Conservatives in the next election and delivered on it two years later, whenNewfoundland and Labrador voters shut out Conservative candidates.

The equalization issue was eventually eclipsed by Newfoundland and Labrador's booming economy and its emergence as a so-called "have" province that no longer receives equalization.

As recently as 2009, Williamsdescribed Harper as "punitive, vindictive [and] nasty."

But the premier has toned down his rhetoric about the federal government in recent months and indicated he would like federal support with several key issues, particularly with plans to move power generated at the two Lower Churchill sites into markets that might include Ontario or the U.S.

A probable obstacle is Quebec, which has been cool to Newfoundland and Labrador's plans.