Ranj Pillai was the sole northern premier present at the Council of the Federation meeting of Canada’s provincial and territorial leaders held in Halifax on Nov. 5 and 6. The meeting dealt with issues of affordability and challenges that face the country’s health-care system, housing market and key infrastructure. Differing views among the leaders regarding changes to carbon taxation made at the federal level also entered discussion.
Pillai and his government remain steadfast on the value of carbon pricing as the leadership of some other provinces call for an end to it. He said it remains a part of the territory’s “sound evidence-based policy on climate change.”
The widespread row over the tax, which is levied either directly by the federal government or by provinces and territories in a way that meets the federal standard, was sparked by a recent federal move to exempt home heating oil, but not other home heating fuels from the tax. The move has drawn accusations of unfair treatment from provinces where the furnace oil is not widely used.
Speaking to the News, the Yukon premier expressed disappointment with communication about the exemption from the federal government. He said the Yukon government was informed of the tax change about 30 minutes before the federal government announced it to the public.
Views on carbon pricing articulated by other premiers at the meeting-ending press conference ranged from opposition to the tax and support for more natural gas exports by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to British Columbia’s David Eby maintaining that it had successfully reduced his province’s emissions despite a growing population.
Pillai echoed statements made by others during the press conference calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to hold a first ministers meeting to hear directly from provincial and territorial leaders. Pillai said such a meeting hasn’t been convened in years.
“It’s not just about carbon pricing, it’s about what our new infrastructure programs are going to look like. It’s about what our new housing funding programs are going to look like. It’s about how are we going to prepare for next year’s season of floods and fire which inevitably is going to happen in some regions of this country.”
Pillai said it was important for him to ensure support from the other premiers at the table for fair distribution of infrastructure funding in the North noting that there was an election going on in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok could not attend the meeting in Halifax.
Health care was also a topic of discussion and Pillai said the importance of reducing reliance on agency nurses and not recruiting from each others’ jurisdictions was discussed. He said Yukon health professionals would soon be paying their own visit to Nova Scotia to get information on red-tape reduction and best practices for recognizing foreign health-care credentials.
Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com
