- First Ministers' conference
In
Canada , a First Ministers' conference is a meeting of the provincial and territorial premiers and the Prime Minister. These events are held at the call of the prime minister and, since 1950, have typically been held annually. They are usually held inOttawa .Though known as "First Ministers' conferences" only since the 1960s, they ultimately trace their origin to the initial constitutional convention held in the mid-1860s at
Charlottetown , PEI, then capital of the British Province of Prince Edward Island. After confederation, two conferences of provincial premiers were held, in 1887 and 1902, in which the federal government was not represented.Altogether, 76 First Ministers' conferences have been held since the first was convened by Prime Minister Sir
Wilfrid Laurier in 1906, at the request of the provinces. Some important First Ministers' conferences were those leading up to the Meech Lake andCharlottetown Accord s. The failed Chalottetown Accord contained a provision that would have made annual First Ministers' conferences obligatory.The conferences are important for a number of reasons. A sizable portion of provincial funding (referred to as
transfer payment s) comes from the federal government, the conferences are an opportunity for the premiers to lobby for more money. Today it is common for the Premiers to meet beforehand to present a common front to the federal government. They are also important in that Canada's federal system leaves a fair amount of overlap between federal and provincial jurisdictions and most large initiatives require some provincial support.The vast majority of the activity at a First Ministers' conference takes place behind closed doors. A public statement is issued after the conference.
Formerly, the government leaders of the territories were only occasionally invited to these conferences, depending on whether issues relevant to the north are being discussed. Today, these leaders normally attend the meetings.
List of First Ministers' conferences to date
Here is a list of First Ministers' conferences, their dates and topics of discussion. The name of the prime minister at the time is included. Detailed information on individual may be found at http://www.scics.gc.ca/pubs/fmp_e.pdf.
Prime Minister: Sir Wilfrid Laurier1. Conference of the Representatives of the Government of Canada and the Various ProvincesOttawa, October 8-13, 1906– Financial subsidies to the provinces
Prime Minister: Sir
Robert Borden , but SirWilliam White chaired the conference as Acting Prime Minister2. Conference between the Members of the Government of Canada and of the Various Provincial Governments ActingOttawa, November 19-22, 1918– Soldier and land settlement, transfer ofnatural resources Prime Minister:
W.L. Mackenzie King 3. Dominion-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, November 3-10, 1927– Various subjects listed under “Constitutional”, “Financial” and “Social and Economic” titlesPrime Minister:
R.B. Bennett 4. Dominion-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, April 7-8, 1931–Statute of Westminster 5. Dominion-Provincial Conference Ottawa, April 8-9, 1932–
Unemployment relief6. Dominion-Provincial Conference Ottawa, January 17-19, 1933– Various subjects including unemployment, old age pensions, company law and overlapping federal and provincial jurisdictions
7. Dominion-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, January 18-19, 1934– Various subjects including employment, financial position of provinces, company law, taxes on liquor, Pacific Great Eastern Railway Company, B.C. claim for equality of treatment
Prime Minister: W.L. Mackenzie King8. Dominion-Provincial Conference Ottawa, December 9-13, 1935– Various subjects including constitutional amendment, federal-provincial financial relations, taxation, social services
9. Dominion-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, January 14-15, 1941– Recommendations of Rowell-Sirois Commission (federal-provincial fiscal relations)
10. Dominion-Provincial Conference on ReconstructionOttawa, August 6-10, 1945– Postwar reconstruction and federal-provincial financial arrangements
11. Dominion-Provincial Conference on ReconstructionOttawa, April 29 – May 3, 1946– Financial arrangements, public investment, health, old age pensions, unemployment
Prime Minister:
Louis St. Laurent 12. Constitutional Conference of Federal and Provincial GovernmentsOttawa, January 10-12, 1950– Constitutional amendment13. Constitutional Conference of Federal and Provincial GovernmentsQuebec City, September 25-28, 1950– Constitutional amendment
14. Conference of Federal and Provincial GovernmentsOttawa, December 4-7, 1950– Tax agreements, old age security, provincial indirect sales tax
15. Federal-Provincial Conference 1955, Preliminary MeetingOttawa, April 26-27, 1955– Federal relief for unemployed persons, and preparation of next Conference
16. Federal-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, October 3-6, 1955– Fiscal relations, natural resources development, establishment of a federal-provincial Continuing Committee, health and welfare
17. Dominion-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, March 9, 1956– Federal-provincial fiscal arrangements
Prime Minister:
John George Diefenbaker 18. Dominion-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, November 25-26, 1957– Hospital insurance, costs of assistance to persons in need, assistance to Atlantic provinces, fiscal matters19. Dominion-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, July 25-27, 1960– Various tax matters including personal and corporate income taxes, equalization, indirect provincial sales tax, taxation of natural resources. Conditional grants and shared cost programs
20. Dominion-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, October 26-28, 1960– Federal-provincial fiscal arrangements
21. Federal-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, February 23-24, 1961– Federal-provincial fiscal arrangements
Prime Minister:
Lester B. Pearson 22. Federal Provincial ConferenceOttawa, July 26-27, 1963– Municipal loan and development fund,Canada Pension Plan 23. Federal-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, November 26-29, 1963– Various subjects including state of the Canadian Economy, conditional grants and shared cost programs, fiscal relations, Canadian Pension Plan
24. Federal-Provincial ConferenceQuébec City, March 31 – April 1, 1964– Shared cost programs and fiscal arrangements, Canada Pension Plan, taxation, fiscal relations, loans to university students
25. Federal-Provincial ConferenceCharlottetown, August 31 – September 2, 1964– Constitutional amendment
26. Federal-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, October 14-15, 1964– Constitutional amendment, Tax Structure Committee, off-shore mineral rights
27. Federal-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, July 19-22, 1965– Various subjects including Social Security, Economic Development, Tax Structure Committee, Transportation and Inland Water Resources
28. Federal-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, October 24-28, 1966– Financing of higher education, federal-provincial fiscal arrangements
29. Federal-Provincial Conference on Housing and Urban DevelopmentOttawa, December 11-12, 1967– Housing and urban development
30. Constitutional ConferenceOttawa, February 5-7, 1968– Constitutional review, Recommendations of Royal Commission on Bilingualism & Biculturalism
Prime Minister:
Pierre Elliott Trudeau 31. Constitutional ConferenceOttawa, February 10-12, 1969– Constitutional review32. Constitutional ConferenceOttawa, June 11-12, 1969– Constitutional review
33. Constitutional ConferenceOttawa, December 8-10, 1969– Constitutional review
34. Federal-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, February 16-17, 1970– Economy, Western agriculture, pollution, Tax Structure Committee
35. Constitutional ConferenceOttawa, September 14-15, 1970– Constitutional review
36. Federal-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, September 16, 1970– Various subjects including Tax reform, agricultural, economic stabilization fund
37. Constitutional ConferenceOttawa, February 8-9, 1971– Constitutional review, unemployment and northern resources
38. Constitutional ConferenceVictoria, June 14-16, 1971– Constitutional review (“Victoria Charter”)
39. Federal-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, November 15-17, 1971– Economy, employment, fiscal arrangements, tri-level consultations
40. Federal-Provincial ConferenceOttawa, May 23-25, 1973– Various subjects including social security system, health programs, post-secondary education, regional economic development, economic situation, foreign land ownership
41. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on EnergyOttawa, January 22-23, 1974– Various subjects including oil and gas policy, national energy policy and federal-provincial mechanisms for continuing consultation on energy
42. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on EnergyOttawa, April 9-10, 1975– The state of the economy and oil and gas prices and other related items
43. Federal-Provincial Conference of First MinistersOttawa, June 14-15, 1976– Federal-provincial fiscal arrangements including shared-cost programs, revenue guarantee and equalization
44. Federal-Provincial Conference of First MinistersOttawa, December 13-14, 1976– Fiscal arrangements and state of the economy
45. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on the EconomyOttawa, February 13-15, 1978– Various subjects including economic outlook and objectives, general economic policies, regional aspects of economic development, and sectoral policies
46. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on the ConstitutionOttawa, October 30, 31 and November 1, 1978– Charter of rights, distribution of powers, institutions, process of constitutional review (creation of the Continuing Committee of Ministers on the Constitution or “CCMC”) and duplication of services
47. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on the EconomyOttawa, November 27-29, 1978– Various subjects including economic overview, labour market and employment issues, and economic coordination
48. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on the ConstitutionOttawa, February 5-6, 1979– Various subjects including consideration of questions raised at the Constitutional Conference (October 30 – November 1, 1978) and future constitutional work program
Prime Minister:
Joe Clark 49. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on EnergyOttawa, November 12, 1979– Oil supply, pricing and use, energy pricing and development, conservation and self-sufficiencyPrime Minister: Pierre Elliott Trudeau50. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on the ConstitutionOttawa, September 8-13, 1980– Various subjects including trade, communications, Upper House, Supreme Court, family law, fisheries, offshore resources, equalization, charter of rights, patriation and amending formula and powers over the economy
51. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on the ConstitutionOttawa, November 2-5, 1981– Consensus on patriation, constitutional amendment formula and charter of rights
52. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on the EconomyOttawa, February 2-5, 1982– Economic management and development
53. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on Aboriginal Constitutional MattersOttawa, March 15-16, 1983– Various subjects including charter of rights, amending formula revisions and self-government
54. Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on Aboriginal Constitutional MattersOttawa, March 8-9, 1984– Equality rights, treaties and treaty rights, land and resources and self-government
Prime Minister:
Brian Mulroney 55. First Ministers’ Conference on the EconomyRegina, February 14-15, 1985– Investment, training and retraining, international trade and regional economic development (“Regina Accord” establishing “Annual Conference of First Ministers”)56. First Ministers’ Conference on Aboriginal Constitutional MattersOttawa, April 2-3, 1985– Aboriginal constitutional matters including self-government and sexual equality rights
57. Annual Conference of First MinistersHalifax, November 28-29, 1985– Federal-provincial relations, economic and fiscal situation, trade, agriculture, fisheries and economic and social development
58. Annual Conference of First MinistersVancouver, November 20-21, 1986– State of the Federation and the economy, economic development and economic equality for women
59. First Ministers’ Conference on Aboriginal Constitutional MattersOttawa, March 26-27, 1987– Constitutional amendment on aboriginal self-government and treaties and treaty issues
60. First Ministers’ Conference on the ConstitutionOttawa, June 3, 1987– Signing of the 1987 Constitutional Accord
61. Annual Conference of First MinistersToronto, November 26-27, 1987– Economic development
62. Annual Conference of First MinistersOttawa, November 9-10, 1989– Federal-Provincial priorities, environment/sustainable development and Meech Lake Accord
63. First Ministers’ Conference on the ConstitutionOttawa, June 3-10, 1990– 1987 Constitutional Accord (Meech Lake)
64. First Ministers’ Meeting on the EconomyOttawa, December 19, 1991– Coordinated approach to economic recovery
65. First Ministers’ Meeting on the EconomyOttawa, February 10, 1992– Pre-budget discussion of common economic recovery
66. First Ministers’ Meeting on the EconomyToronto, March 24-25, 1992– Various subjects including social programs, training, infrastructure, interprovincial trade barriers, international trade, agriculture, fisheries, tax coordination
67. First Ministers’ Meeting on the ConstitutionOttawa, August 18, 1992
68. First Ministers’ Meeting on the ConstitutionCharlottetown, August 27-28, 1992– Final Consensus Report on the Constitution, Final Political Accords and Draft Legal Text based on the Charlottetown Accord
Prime Minister:
Jean Chrétien 69. First Ministers’ Meeting – EconomyOttawa, December 21, 1993– Economic renewal and fiscal responsibility, job creation and competitive economy and program coordination70. First Ministers’ Meeting – TradeOttawa, July 18, 1994– Internal trade
71. First Ministers’ MeetingOttawa, June 20-21, 1996– Canadian economy, renewal of the federation, Section 49, Constitution Act 1982, jobs and growth and social dimensions
72. First Ministers’ MeetingOttawa, December 11-12, 1997– Various subjects including social policy renewal, health and youth employment
73. First Ministers’ MeetingOttawa, February 4, 1999– Social Union Framework Agreement
74. First Ministers’ MeetingOttawa, September 10-11, 2000– Health care, childhood development
75. First Ministers’ MeetingOttawa, February 4-5, 2003– Health care
Prime Minister:
Paul Martin 76. First Ministers’ MeetingOttawa, January 30, 2004– Health care, public health, Canada-U.S. relations, emergency management
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