OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is planning a rare meeting with Canada's premiers and territorial leaders to discuss globalization, competitiveness and the country's economic union.
Provincial sources said Tuesday that no date has yet been pinned down for what's expected to be an informal lunch meeting. But June 2 is thought to be a likely date, allowing Harper to consult with premiers one day before he heads off to a G8 summit in Germany.
Harper has vowed to involve provinces more in international affairs, a promise with particular resonance in Quebec where the prime minister hopes to make big gains in the next election.
The suggested agenda for the first ministers is similar to that set out for the leaders of the eight major industrialized countries in Germany, where creating the conditions for a stable global economy and stable global trade tops the agenda.
The Prime Minister's Office did not respond to queries about the imminent meeting with premiers.
Harper last met with his provincial and territorial counterparts in February of last year on health care. That meeting, about a month after the Conservatives took power, was an amiable affair.
Relations have soured between the prime minister and some premiers since then. The relationship between Harper and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams has become toxic, with both men feuding over equalization in newspaper ads and over the airwaves.
The premiers of Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan have also been highly critical of the way the federal government calculates the value of their natural resources in the newly reformed equalization program.
Any meeting over lunch will be held behind closed doors.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty would not speculate about such a meeting but he did say there's "some urgency'' for the federal and provincial governments to deal with issues such as barriers to inter-provincial trade and labour mobility.
"We're trying to arrive at new free trade arrangements with other countries around the world. We have to make sure we accomplish free trade at home,'' Flaherty said.
"I think that there is some urgency to the issue because of the significant labour shortages that we have in Canada,'' he added.
He said labour shortages are particularly acute in western Canada and are impeding economic growth.
"The good news is that the rate of labour mobility is at a record high in Canada. The bad news is there are still some impediments to people being able to work wherever they want in our own country.''
