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B.C. and federal officials then met on Feb. 8 in Vancouver to discuss B.C.’s position. That day, Ottawa cancelled the child care press conference.

Announcing the provincial money would have been a boost for British Columbia, where the NDP government is struggling to afford the $10-a-day child care plan promised during the May 2017 election. The government has said it will need help from Ottawa to fund the plan. A joint press conference on the eve of the Feb. 20 provincial budget, in which details of B.C.’s child care program will be revealed, could have been a visible show of support for B.C.’s ambitions.

The provincial-federal deal was instead quietly posted to a subsection of the B.C. government’s website on Friday. B.C. will still get the money.

It’s unclear if Ottawa’s move was in fact retaliation for B.C.’s threats about the pipeline.

“The federal government has assured us the event is delayed just for now,” Premier John Horgan’s office said in a statement Wednesday. “We continue to have good working relationships across ministries on a range of issues.

“We’re also continuing our dialogue with the federal government on Kinder Morgan, which includes a meeting today between federal and provincial officials.”

Horgan was asked after his throne speech Tuesday whether his pipeline fight would affect provincial-federal relations, including federal money for child care and transit. He said he did not think that would be a problem.

On Wednesday, Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson said “Ottawa has a lot of discretion in terms of whether they support projects in British Columbia…Right now premier Horgan has picked a fight in Alberta that he can’t win, and the government of Canada has approved a project he is now trying to block. That does not bode well for our relationship with Ottawa.”

rshaw@postmedia.com

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