For the second day in a row, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has found himself in disagreement with a European ally on the contentious bank tax issue.
Meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Harper was at odds with the French government's support of a proposal to use a bank tax to pay for future economic rescues.
"We're trying to reach an agreement on this question, where even if countries do things differently, we can recognize a common principle to ensure that risks are taken by the institutions themselves and not by taxpayers," Harper said after meeting with Fillon on Friday.
"We also have to make sure that we don't increase risk by sending the message to the financial sector that the taxpayers will underwrite their bad decisions."
Harper met with British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday in London and came away with the same result.
Many European countries favour having a bank tax to shield taxpayers from bailing out banks in future -- France and Britain are two of the biggest supporters of the proposal.
Harper opposes having a bank tax because it would penalize Canadian banks that did not need bailing out during the recent financial crisis.
"They stand firm and Canada stands firm," CTV's Daniele Hamamdjian told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel from Paris, summing up the opposing views.
The bank tax will undoubtedly be a topic of discussion when G20 leaders meet in Toronto later this month.
Despite the fact that Harper was not able to sway his European colleagues, University of Toronto professor John Kirton believes the prime minister had successful meetings with both leaders.
On Thursday, Harper was the first leader to meet the newly elected Cameron at 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British prime minister.
Kirton, the head of the G8 Research Centre at the University of Toronto, said Canada and Britain share "strong solidarity on so many of the key issues," including the war in Afghanistan, free trade and the challenges facing the global financial system.
The fact that Cameron made his position clear on the bank tax issue simply indicates that he is "too smart a politician or a statesman to spend much time on what is already, really a lost cause," Kirton said.
As for Harper's meetings in France, Kirton predicted Sarkozy and the Canadian prime minister would stick to other substantive issues.
"Mr. Sarkozy will say bold things about a bank tax when he comes before the cameras to talk to the voters at home," said Kirton.
"But when he sits down privately with Mr. Harper, as statesperson to statesperson, they'll talk about the real issues to move the world forward at this critical stage."
With files from The Canadian Press
