Premiers' Conference (Canada)

Premiers' Conference (Canada)
Name	Premiers' Conference (Canada)
Caption	Canadian premiers meeting
Formation	1906
Jurisdiction	Canada
Headquarters	Ottawa

Premiers' Conference (Canada)

The Premiers' Conference (Canada) is an interprovincial and federal-provincial forum where provincial premiers and sometimes the Prime Minister meet to discuss matters affecting provinces and the federation. Rooted in early 20th-century practice, the Conference has involved figures from the Liberal Party of Canada, Conservative Party of Canada (historical), Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, New Democratic Party, Quebec Liberal Party, Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, British Columbia New Democratic Party and other provincial parties, and has intersected with landmark events such as the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Constitution Act, 1867, and the Patriation of the Constitution of Canada.

History

The origins trace to informal gatherings of premiers in the early 1900s alongside leaders like Wilfrid Laurier and Sir Robert Borden, evolving through crises such as the Great Depression, World War I, World War II and policy realignments after the Statute of Westminster 1931. Conferences in the 1940s involved premiers including Duff Pattullo, John Bracken and M.J. Coldwell around wartime mobilization and postwar reconstruction, while postwar meetings intersected with national initiatives under Louis St. Laurent, John Diefenbaker, and Lester B. Pearson. The 1960s and 1970s saw premiers such as Lee Courtenay, Peter Lougheed, René Lévesque, Bill Davis confronting issues tied to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, the Quiet Revolution, and debates leading toward the Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accord in the 1980s and 1990s. Recent conferences have engaged premiers like Jean Charest, Alison Redford, Kathleen Wynne, Doug Ford, Rachel Notley, Blaine Higgs, François Legault and federal leaders such as Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau.

Purpose and Functions

The Conference serves purposes including coordination on fiscal arrangements such as transfers linked to the Canada Health Act, equalization tied to the Financial Administration Act framework, and interprovincial collaboration on matters touching the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and entitlements like those in the Canada Pension Plan. It provides a venue for premiers to advance positions relative to federal initiatives like the Goods and Services Tax, the Canada Health Transfer, and national strategies on topics referenced in reports by bodies such as the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada. The Conference functions as a policy incubator influencing negotiations over instruments like the Fiscal Arrangements Act and frameworks emerging from the Council of the Federation.

Participants and Organization

Participants are primarily provincial and territorial premiers from jurisdictions including Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. The Prime Minister of Canada and federal ministers such as the Minister of Finance (Canada), Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (Canada), and Minister of Health (Canada) may attend. Other participants have included leaders of Indigenous organizations such as Assembly of First Nations, representatives from institutions like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, officials from the Privy Council Office, and experts from bodies such as the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the Fraser Institute.

Meeting Format and Frequency

Historically episodic, meetings have been convened at varying intervals—annual, biennial, or ad hoc—sometimes aligned with national crises like the 1970 October Crisis or constitutional moments such as the negotiations leading to the Constitution Act, 1982. Formats range from closed-door plenary sessions hosted in capitals like Ottawa or provincial legislatures (e.g., Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Assemblée nationale du Québec) to public announcements and joint communiqués. Agendas are coordinated by chairs drawn from the premiers, secretariats linked to the Council of the Federation or provincial executive councils, and supported by civil servants from departments like the Department of Finance (Canada) and provincial finance ministries.

Major Topics and Policy Outcomes

Topics have included health financing and the Canada Health Act enforcement, education funding as referenced by provincial ministries of education, natural resources and disputes involving entities like Hydro-Québec and Alberta Department of Energy, fiscal federalism including changes to the Equalization payments (Canada), and interprovincial trade barriers affecting industries represented by groups such as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Outcomes have ranged from agreed-upon positions feeding into federal budgets under Paul Martin or Jim Flaherty, coordinated responses to national emergencies (e.g., pandemics involving the Public Health Agency of Canada), and contributions to constitutional accords like the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord negotiations, though not all initiatives succeeded.

Intergovernmental Relations and Constitutional Role

The Conference operates within Canada’s model of federalism shaped by the Constitution Act, 1867 and judicial interpretation by the Supreme Court of Canada. It influences intergovernmental relations alongside forums such as the Council of the Federation, First Ministers' conferences, and bilateral meetings between premiers and the Prime Minister of Canada. The Conference has been a venue for premiers to assert provincial jurisdictional claims upheld or reviewed in cases before the Supreme Court of Canada, and to negotiate transfer arrangements reflected in statutes like the Canada Health Transfer Act and agreements under the Social Union Framework Agreement.

Criticisms and Controversies

Criticisms include claims of opacity contrasted with calls from advocates like Transparency International-type observers and public-interest groups for greater openness, accusations of premiers leveraging meetings for partisan advantage involving parties such as the Conservative Party of Canada and Liberal Party of Canada, and disputes over representation when federal or Indigenous voices were excluded, drawing critique from organizations like the Assembly of First Nations and commentators in outlets such as the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star. Controversies have arisen when agreements reached at the Conference failed in subsequent ratification—most notably affecting constitutional proposals like the Meech Lake Accord—or when fiscal deals provoked litigation in provincial courts and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Category:Politics of Canada