The Art of the Deal During an Election
Premiers are in a unique position during a federal election campaign and seek to use their leverage to extract commitments from party leaders as they campaign around the country. Premiers have access to local media markets, communications professionals and other staff who can assist getting messages out to voters in their respective provinces. Federal leaders can use friendly Premiers as an extension of their campaign and seek to mollify or blunt the criticism of unfriendly Premiers. It is, or can be, a golden goose. It is the Art of the Deal – election-style.
In the opening days of the current federal campaign, we saw this headline: “Liberals, Tories promise to cut tolls on Confederation Bridge, ferry: P.E.I. Premier.” This represents a small financial promise in a campaign when many promises amount to billions, but it is a very important commitment for Islanders where Liberal seats seemed at risk. It didn’t come as a surprise when a few days later Newfoundland Premier Andrew Furey asked that fares be removed from Marine Atlantic ferries as a “matter of fairness.” Gander – meet goose (pun intended).
Prime Ministers over the years have bristled at the idea that they are simply a cash account for the provinces. Pierre Trudeau once criticized the arrangement as treating the Prime Minister like the head waiter to the Premiers. Consider Prime Minister Harper who, like the first Prime Minister Trudeau, tried to pursue a policy of “disentangled federalism.” This is where, as a matter of budgetary policy, the federal government refused to fund areas of provincial responsibility. For their part, Premiers want the money but don’t want strings attached (read accountability).
However, this is also how Canada works – it is not built on rigid accounting edifices like Generally Accepted Accounting Principles but on a set of shared values pursued cooperatively. Universal healthcare and significant health transfers are a prime example.
In Ontario, where Doug Ford has emerged as a champion of union workers in the auto sector, the Premier got the commitment he needed: a $2-billion strategic response fund benefiting automakers. Ford has stayed conspicuously at arm’s length from Poilievre while his campaign manager has launched serious criticisms of the federal Conservative campaign. Ford is a blue-collar populist and wouldn’t be the obvious choice as being a strong supporter of an Oxford-educated former Goldman Sachs banker like Mark Carney but elections have consequences.
Not to be left out, here in Nova Scotia, Premier Tim Houston wrote a letter detailing his wishlist for the next Prime Minister which included funding for the Chignecto isthmus, wharves, high speed rail and funding for a new pulp mill among others.
The fact is it is not just money but sometimes policy changes (which have financial consequences) that offer the most attractive gets for provincial and territorial Premiers. Danielle Smith presented her list as “demands” and repeated several policies she wants changed by the next government including unfettered cross-boundary access to build pipelines and an end to the proposed greenhouse gas emissions cap. Mr. Poilievre, whom Premier Smith has endorsed, has long had her own policies consistent with her latest “demands” for Ottawa. Carney responded with a pledge to create a Major Federal Project Office mandated to make decisions on projects within two years and to consolidate various governmental processes into a “single window.”
In Quebec, where in the last election Premier Legault called the Liberals and the NDP “dangerous”, he is refraining from endorsing a party or leader this time around. The Legault campaign ask was for a commitment to reducing the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec by half and to protect key sectors of the province’s economy. And even if he is not endorsing a party in the campaign, he did praise Pierre Poilievre for committing to grant the province more power to select temporary immigrants.
In any deal-making scenario and specifically in campaigns, one should be promoting the benefits and sweetening the deal. It’s also important to assess and take the time to find alignment. For example, all three major parties have commitments on housing investments, health care funding, and infrastructure improvements that are consistent with provincial priorities.
But regardless of how Premiers engage or choose not to, in the end it is the voters who ultimately decide: Deal or no Deal.
Hon. Darrell Dexter is Vice Chair of Global Public Affairs. He served as the Premier of Nova Scotia from 2009-2013 as well as Chair of the Council of the Federation (2012-2013).