Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 06

December 2018/January 2019 // Canadian Government Executive / 31 MULTI-LEVEL GOVERNMENTS reports focused on the conflicts and one Canadian pundit even dismissed the event as “cheap theatre.” 1 When the day ended, however, all first ministers remained at the table, a joint communiqué was issued, and the day-today work of running the federation continued. What role, then, do First Ministers’ Meetings play in Canada’s intergovern- mental machinery? Why are they called? What are the procedures that govern them? And, perhaps most importantly, why should we care about them? Here I make the case to set aside cynicism and see the strengths, weaknesses, and un- tapped potential of this intergovernmen- tal body with clearer eyes. The Most Visible Cog First Ministers’ Meetings are only one cog in the network of intergovernmental machinery in Canada. In its entirety, inter- governmental machinery is comprised of all the networks and organizational sup- ports that enable our federal, provincial, and territorial politicians and officials Machiner y MEETINGS (both political and bureaucratic), to work together. Interactions among our politi- cians and officials are necessary to ensure that federal, provincial, and territorial gov- ernments are capable of coordinating ac- tions to respond to the key challenges that face Canadians. Much of the work of running the federa- tion occurs at the sector level. Relatively permanent intergovernmental tables bring together ministers and their officials, often multiple times throughout the year. From justice to immigration, health to la- bour, few areas of government activity in Canada are left untouched by some form of intergovernmental machinery. In con- trast to the coverage of FMMs, however, the activities of sectoral tables barely reg- ister on the public eye. This is despite the fact that major agreements and activities are often advanced at these tables like, for example, Canada’s new housing strategy. Prime ministers also stay in regular con- tact with the other first ministers through bilateral meetings and phone calls. Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Ford, for example, held their own bilateral meet- ing the day before this most recent First Ministers’ Meeting. And, in his 10 years as prime minister, Stephen Harper favoured bilateral meetings and convened only two FMMs – under what was reported to be considerable duress. 2 So why, then, should prime ministers even bother with FMMs? Because they feature the leaders of the federal, provincial, and territorial govern- ments, First Ministers’ Meetings (as they have been known since the 1990s) are with- out a doubt the most visible of Canada’s in- tergovernmental machinery. Providing the occasion where they all meet face to face, FMMs give the top politicians and their officials the chance to sit around a shared table and hear directly from one another. Put simply, First Ministers’ Meetings are the lone arena where the interdependence of Canada’s federation may be formally and most holistically acknowledged. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the opening session of the first ministers meeting in Montreal on Dec. 7, 2018, flanked by New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc and Premiers Francois Legault of Quebec, Stephen McNeil of Nova Scotia and Bob McLeod of the Northwest Territories. Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press.