XPost: can.politics, tor.general   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   And you'll likely win - with a majority.     (^o^)   
      
   Harper has done everything in his power to undermine the Liberal Party in   
   Ontario - for years.  He's supported Tory candidates and cut funding to the   
   Ontario Liberal governments for years.  Now he has the chutzpah to say it's   
   WYNNE who is the one creating the 'confrontations'.   
      
   Not everyone is a stupid right winger, Harper.   
   ___________________________________________________   
      
   December 4, 2014 - The Globe and Mail   
      
      
   Wynne should focus on Ontario and 'not on confrontation,' Harper says   
      
      
   The Premier broadcast her concerns in November after a meeting proposal was   
   turned down by the Prime Minister's Office, saying it had been 11 months since   
   she had met with Mr. Harper and noting the Prime Minister ignored a previous   
   request she'd made in September   
      
   Stephen Harper says Kathleen Wynne should address the challenges facing her   
   province and "not on confrontation" when he was asked why he's not met with the   
   Ontario Premier despite her much-publicized requests for face time.   
      
   The Premier broadcast her concerns in November after a meeting proposal was   
   turned down by the Prime Minister's Office, saying it had been 11 months since   
   she had met with Mr. Harper and noting the Prime Minister ignored a previous   
   request she'd made in September.   
      
   Mr. Harper was asked Thursday why it's been so long since he met Ms. Wynne and   
   he said he anticipates he will "have another meeting" with her "at some point   
   in time."   
      
   He urged Ontario, which is grappling with big deficits, to make the problems   
   facing that province its top priority.   
      
   "I would encourage the government of Ontario to focus on those things; not on   
   confrontation."   
      
   Mr. Harper noted the federal government, by comparison, is set to balance its   
   budget in 2015.   
      
   "We're balancing our budget, we're cutting taxes and we're delivering more   
   services; we think this is the direction the people of Ontario and people of   
   Canada want and we would encourage the government of Ontario to follow that   
   direction."   
      
   The spat between Mr. Harper and Ms. Wynne is about far more than a lack of face   
   time.   
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   Ms. Wynne made her fight with the federal government the hallmark of the   
   Liberal's 2014 election campaign – and has repeatedly demanded Ottawa play a   
   bigger role in – and pony up more money for – such things as   
   infrastructure.   
   Mr. Harper's Conservatives have insisted the provinces must take the lead on   
   those files.  << ==[Except Alberta, that is]   
      
   Liberals have denied that Ms. Wynne is taking aim at Mr. Harper to draw   
   attention away from problems at home.  She says she wants to discuss   
   infrastructure, the auto sector, internal trade, transfers, Employment   
   Insurance, retirement incomes and violence against aboriginal women and girls.   
      
   With less than a year before a federal election, Ms. Wynne campaigned for   
   Justin Trudeau's Liberals in the recent Whitby-Oshawa by-election.   
      
   Mr. Harper's approach to federal-provincial relations has differed from those   
   of many of his predecessors.   
   He has not attended a first ministers meeting since winning a majority   
   government in 2011, and prefers to deal with premiers one-on-one. In 2011, he   
   did not negotiate health care transfers with the premiers but instead informed   
   them transfers would only rise with inflation after 2017-18.   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)