The good agreement between Justin Trudeau and its provincial counterparts seem to be crumbling. The Prime Minister is now warning that he will offer his billions of dollars in piecemeal pandemic aid to provinces that accept his conditions, without waiting for the agreement of the others. And the country’s prime ministers also failed to agree to denounce systemic racism in the country this week, Quebec fiercely opposing it.
Trudeau and his counterparts issued a joint statement on Thursday condemning “all forms of racism, discrimination, intolerance and bigotry.” Leaders commit to “exercising their leadership and making the necessary changes to their policies, initiatives and practices in order to better support communities and thus address the root causes of inequality”.
But nowhere in the 400-word declaration does the word “systemic racism” appear.
“Indeed, there was no consensus on the use of the words” systemic racism “, recognized Mr. Trudeau Friday, without wanting to denounce the provinces who opposed it.
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According to information from Duty, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta were reluctant when Mr. Trudeau proposed drafting such a declaration a few weeks ago. The last two provinces, however, seem to have rallied to the idea during the discussions.
On the other hand, Quebec has made no secret of its net refusal to include the expression “systemic racism” in the declaration by the premiers. “Our position is the same: we do not believe that there is systemic racism in Quebec”, was once again argued at the office of the Prime Minister François Legault. “Yes, racism exists in Quebec, as in any society, but it is not true that Quebec has set up, consciously or not, a system to exclude and discriminate against people”, has it been said insisted, saying that the time “is not for the debate on words”, but rather “for action”.
Saskatchewan said it recognized the existence of systemic racism. The province “had no concerns about its inclusion in the joint statement,” assured the office of Premier Scott Moe. Ditto in Alberta, where Premier Jason Kenney “did not object to the use of the term,” according to his office.
Only Manitoba refused to clarify the position of its Premier Brian Pallister in Duty Friday.
Mr. Trudeau said he believed that the refusal of some to speak of systemic racism or discrimination “underlines how much work we have to do”. “Compared to me, compared to the federal government, we recognize systemic racism so that we can combat it better,” he insisted. Trudeau nevertheless believes that “the rather strong position against the racism of the Prime Ministers of this country was of value”.
14 billion take it or leave it
This lack of consensus between the provinces and Ottawa also persists in the issue of the $ 14 billion that Mr. Trudeau has committed to pay his counterparts on certain conditions.
Here again, the Prime Minister has not revealed which provinces still refuse to invest these funds only where Ottawa dictates them. But Mr. Trudeau has revealed that he negotiates bilaterally with each of them with a view to concluding individual agreements. “These bilateral conversations are continuing and, as soon as there are provinces that reach an agreement with the federal government, we are going to want to pass the money as quickly as possible so that Canadians across the country receive the help, “he said on Friday during his daily press briefing.
“We are not going to wait until the last province signs to help the first,” he said. I think people understand how important it is to take this money out to help businesses, families, vulnerable people, different municipalities. There are a lot of things where we need the money soon and we will do everything we can to send it as quickly as possible. “
None of the provinces and none of the territories have, however, accepted the federal envelope with conditions, for the moment, according to our information.
Mr. Trudeau promised to give these funds to the provinces three weeks ago to help them manage the consequences of the pandemic. However, Ottawa insists that the funds be used to purchase protective equipment, add paid sick leave, consolidate the daycare network, improve care in CHSLDs and help municipalities. Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick deplored that the federal government wants to dictate to them how to use this money.
With Marco Bélair-Cirino
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