Premiers converge on Manitoba
Posted Aug 4, 2010 12:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Manitoba is playing host to Canada’s premiers and territorial leaders.
The annual meeting has begun in Churchill with aboriginal education at the top of the agenda. On Thursday, they will move to Winnipeg, where economic issues will be the focus.
But in the back rooms, Alberta’s delegation will focus its efforts on the oilsands.
This would come as the province launches a new public relations campaign to counter growing anti-oilsands criticism.
The plan is to have strength in numbers.
Mount Royal University political scientist David Taras tells 660news the pitch Premier Ed Stelmach will be making to the other provinces is quite clear.
“This is jobs, this is investment, this is a big part of the economy…not only for Alberta but for everybody,” he says.
But Taras says Stelmach will be facing a lot of pushback.
“Quebec, BC, Manitoba, Ontario…who have very different attitudes toward climate change and the environment. So he has to sell, but it’s not going to be a receptive audience.”
Taras says the common theme in these backroom meetings is ‘you scratch my back or i’ll scratch your face’ and he says negotiations are often heated.
