Trudeau urges positivity ahead of meeting with Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister

While there may be friction, Trudeau says the time when levels of government constantly fought with each other is over.

“We are going to continue to work constructively and look for positive working relationships with everyone,” Trudeau said while in Kenora, Ont., on Friday.

“The time in which Canadians want to see levels of government fighting with each other is long past. They want to see a respectful, positive approach and that’s what I always do.”

Last month, Pallister blasted the federal government’s handling of health-funding negotiations, calling them “dangerous, reckless and risky.”

Under the deal, Ottawa limits annual health-transfer increases to three per cent a year — half the six per cent annual increase set out in the last long-term agreement with the provinces. But the federal government has offered up extra money for specific projects in various provinces.

“Why would I take a nickel on behalf of Manitobans, what kind of premier would I be, if I accepted that inducement of that shiny nickel now and sacrificed a whole dollar over the next decade for health care?” Pallister said.

Pallister went into a meeting of premiers in Edmonton last week lobbying for Ottawa to delay cannabis legalization by one year so that provinces can have more time to prepare.

His fellow premiers didn’t go that far, but they did emerge with a list of concerns that they said need to be addressed before the recreational cannabis becomes legal July 1.

On Churchill, Pallister has said he needs to know what Ottawa’s plans are for the port before any decisions can be made on whether the flooded rail line should be fixed.

Omnitrax, the Denver-based company that owns the line, has said it can be repaired between $20 million and $60 million, but the company doesn’t plan to spend the money.

Trudeau’s first meeting in Winnipeg was on Friday afternoon with Mayor Brian Bowman.

Bowman began by noting it was the first visit to city hall by a sitting prime minister in nearly a century — the last being William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Bowman emerged from the meeting praising the “productive and positive working relationship” he’s had with Trudeau since the prime minister took office in November 2015.

A centrepiece of their discussion, Bowman said, was the city’s plan to access more than $180 million in federal infrastructure dollars for roads. The city needs provincial government support in order to do so.

Bowman stopped short of saying he explicitly asked Trudeau to mention the city’s plan to Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister in a meeting between the two leaders Saturday morning.

“What I did is I emphasized the fact that we have unanimous council support … and I underscored the need for us to fix our roads. And he was very receptive to that,” Bowman said.

Much of their overall discussion was “structural,” Bowman said, regarding the way cities are able to access federal funding and obtain “tools and funds for cities to succeed.”

Trudeau said he looks forward to continuing “solid partnerships” with cities on areas of mutual interest such as infrastructure and immigration.

— With files from James Turner in Winnipeg.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Trudeau urges positivity ahead of meeting with Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister

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