Article content continued

But his refusal became an issue in itself. As the Toronto Star helpfully pointed out, it’s been 2,502 days since the last meeting of all the premiers and the PM, as if just sitting down in a room together would constitute an achievement in itself. Harper preferred dealing one-on-one, but found that could be equally irritating, and famously refused to take phone calls from Ontario’s Kathleen Wynne for over a year.

Today’s session with the premiers is expected to deal with refugees and climate change. But it’s just the beginning. The provinces have a lengthy list of “needs”. They want to know where Trudeau is keeping the money he pledged to spend on infrastructure, and how soon they can get their hands on it. They all have important projects and want their “fair share” … which means at least as much as every other province, and preferably more.

Ontario wants information on the promised enhancement of the Canada Pension Plan, and whether it will save Wynne from having to implement her costly and inefficient Ontario-only plan. Alberta is interested in social housing money; Manitoba wants education money. But most of all, according to a survey of the provinces by Canadian Press, they all want health-care money. According to Manitoba Finance Minister Greg Dewar, “We’re hoping the federal government will take a larger role in terms of paying health-care costs.”

Since none of the premiers attended the last first ministers’ meeting – 2,502 days ago – they may not realize that the problem of health-care funding has already been solved. The Liberals announced they’d ended the problem when then-prime minister Paul Martin agreed to his “fix for a generation” at a first ministers meeting in September 2004. For those unable to recall the details, the CBC provides a concise history here.