Point of View | Personalities, partisanship must be put aside for this week's premiers' meeting

Thirteen relatively ordinary Canadians citizens who by the miracle of democracy have been given extraordinary responsibilities will gather this week in Saskatoon for the annual premiers' meeting.

I was part of a similar meeting in 2003, in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Unless things have dramatically changed and I suspect they have not premiers will often bring interesting personalities along with their politics.

The table that year featured Bernard Landry, an avowed Quebec nationalist voicing his separatist conviction. I sat with Ralph Klein from Alberta, whose response to the BSE crisis affecting our cattle exports was the pithy advice to "shoot, shovel and shut up." Danny Williams, my close ally in the equalization debate with Ottawa, was taking down the Canadian flag across Newfoundland and Labrador.

I expect there are equally interesting personalities among today's premiers. This week they must put their differences aside and work for the good of all Canadians.

Founding the council

Those of us gathered in 2003 founded the Council of the Federation.

The council was and is intended to provide a united front among territorial and provincial governments when interacting with the federal government. Its other equal goal was to provide "constructive Confederation," working for Canadian unity.

The council enjoyed early success. Provinces and territories combined to strike the Health Accord with the Paul Martin government, providing $41 billion in new health care funding for Canadians.

The Kelowna Accord with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada was a similar success for the council, again with the Martin government,. Had the accord remained intact it would have begun a serious process of reconciliation in this country much earlier.

United front needed on many issues

The council's initial goals a unified front among provinces and territories, constructive Confederation remain as crucial in 2019 as they were in 2003. They are particularly important as the council meets in Saskatoon this week.

Too many of the recent interactions among provincial, territorial and federal governments have been piecemeal, overly partisan and too quick to raise the prospect of a crisis in national unity. Crucial policy issues like energy exports and climate change have fallen into partisan debate, with reasonable discussion becoming the victim.

Premiers, gathered as the Council of the Federation, have an opportunity, unique in Canadian politics, to rise above partisan considerations for the benefit of all Canadians.

Many issues cry out for a united front among premiers: trade issues with China and the United States, establishing a national pharmacare program, climate change, energy exports and national efforts toward reconciliation.

Working toward constructive Confederation is never easy.

Premiers from at least six political parties will be gathered in Saskatoon, bringing with them the regional differences that exist in Canada and in their own political landscapes.

It falls to Premier Scott Moe to chair this gathering.

It will be his challenge to negotiate the personalities, rise above partisanship and forge a common front among provincial leaders to strengthen our federation and better the lives of Canadians.

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