Now I begin to understand what Harper means by "open federalism".
It means he gets to openly demonstrate his contempt for the provinces that don't bow down before him.
But more seriously, what kind of message does he think he sends by overtly alienating the Premier of NL? Or any Premier.
Is it enough to simply say that Williams is a blowhard so I won't deal with him? So what. What are you going to do, Steve? Take control of provincial politics too? Deal with it.
What sort of "open federalism" is going to sprout in an environment where the Prime Minister of all Canada decides he can ignore or deliberately snub a Premier of a province, any province, simply on the basis of distaste?
If "open federalism" is supposedly at least partly intended to grant more autonomy to the provinces what is the message when the Prime Minister supposedly advocating that you become more autonomous simply blows into your province without even letting you know he's coming? Is that a demonstration of respect for provincial autonomy?
If federal money to assist in the mop-up following the flooding wrought by Chantal is forthcoming is Harper going to insist on controlling how it's spent rather than allow the NL government to spend it as they see fit?
If the answer to the above is 'no', then why not tour the flood damage with the Premier?
If the answer is 'yes' then his "open federalism" soapbox is a lie.
A tail dragging romp through the swamps of the world
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