US embassy cable - 05QUEBEC135

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 QUEBEC 000135 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  8/8/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ECON, CA 
SUBJECT: PREMIERS BANFF MEETING, AUG. 10-12 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Abigail Friedman, Consul General, Quebec City, 
State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Abigail Friedman, Consul General, Quebec City, 
State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
 
1. (C) Summary:  The Council of the Federation, a 
provincial/territorial forum initiated by Quebec Premier Charest 
in 2003, will hold its first meeting of 2005, in Banff, August 
10-12.  Initially greeted with skepticism, the Council proved 
its worth last fall when it succeeded in hammering out an 
eventual deal with the GOC on health care funds transfers.  At 
Banff, Canadian Premiers will turn their attention to the 
federal transfer of funds for post-secondary education.  In a 
meeting with CG Aug. 4, Quebec Minister for Intergovernmental 
Affairs Benoit Pelletier welcomed the Ambassador's plan to 
attend the Banff meeting, as it would underscored the growing 
importance of the Council as an institution that advances 
Canadian unity.  Of all of Canada's Premiers, Charest has the 
greatest stake in the Council's success, not simply because he 
created it but because it is the Liberal Party of Quebec's (PLQ) 
answer to Quebec sovereigntists who argue that Quebec can never 
get a fair deal working within the Canadian confederation.  End 
summary. 
 
2. (U) CG met with Quebec Minister Benoit Pelletier Aug. 4, to 
review the agenda and GOQ expectations for the coming Council of 
the Federation meeting in Banff, Alberta.  Pelletier, a 
constitutional lawyer, took the lead back in 2001 in developing 
the Council, as chair of the PLQ group under Charest that 
proposed its creation.  Since then, he has been Charest's 
right-hand man in managing Quebec's relations with the other 
provinces and with the federal government. 
 
Education 
------------ 
 
3. (C) Pelletier said the main agenda item at Banff would be 
federal financing of post-secondary school education.  (Comment: 
 This matter is important to all Canadian Premiers but has added 
resonance for Quebec given widespread student demonstrations 
here this past spring over cuts in post-secondary school student 
grants.  End comment.)  Pelletier said the Premiers want to get 
the federal government to return to the percentage of federal 
funding allotted in 1994-95, the last year before the GOC 
instituted sharp cuts in the education transfer to fix federal 
budget woes.  Pelletier said the Premiers want a transfer a 
total for all the provinces of 2.2 billion Canadian per year.  A 
"second stage" request would be for the GOC to cover the rise in 
education costs.  Pelletier said that, unlike with the health 
fund transfer, Quebec is not seeking special consideration 
("asymmetric federalism"), given that the GOC is not expected to 
attach conditions to the transfer, as it did on health care.  If 
the GOC did start tacking on conditions, mused Pelletier, the 
GOQ would of course challenge that. 
 
International Relations 
--------------------------- 
 
4.  (C) Pelletier did not believe the Council would discuss one 
of Quebec's key goals: that of advancing the provinces' role in 
international affairs on matters of provincial concern. 
Pelletier indicated that this issue is not one that garners much 
support among the Premiers and for this reason, it was best not 
to bring it up at the Council at this stage.  (Note:  A GOQ 
brochure on the Council states, under the heading "The 
Challenges of Globalization," that the provinces "must play a 
greater role on the international stage by participating in the 
negotiation of agreements related to their jurisdictions, 
without threatening the cohesiveness of Canada's foreign 
policy." End note.) 
 
5. (SBU) Pelletier praised the Ambassador's coming participation 
in the Council's Banff meeting.  He characterized U.S. 
involvement as consistent with the growing appreciation of the 
forum by the Canadian federal government, as an institution that 
strengthens Canadian unity.  Other groups, such as Canada's 
First Nations, also would like to be members of the Council, 
according to Pelletier.  But, he continued, while the Council 
recognizes the importance of working issues out with the First 
Nations, the consensus is that it is best not to expand the 
Council to include First Nations.  The compromise: The Council 
will not technically meet with First Nations representatives at 
Banff but in Calgary on Aug. 9, immediately prior to the Council 
meetings. 
 
Other Issues 
--------------- 
 
6. (U) In addition to the education issue on the agenda, 
Pelletier said the Premiers would discuss: 
-- streamlining Canada's labor market (i.e., ways in which to 
expand the free circulation of workers); 
-- relations with the U.S. (Pelletier did not have anything more 
specific to offer on this); and 
-- strengthening the Council's secretariat in Ottawa. 
Media Upbeat about Council 
---------------------------------- 
7.  (U) After an inauspicious start, the Council seems to be 
gathering in stature.  Early media spin on the Council was "new 
bottle, old whine (sic)" (Montreal Gazette August, 2004).  The 
Gazette viewed the Council as the usual, "premiers snipping at 
the absent feds while pleading for more money from them."  That 
perception changed over the following months, as the Premiers 
scored a success in arriving at a common position on the 
transfer of health care funds.  By mid-September 2004, the Globe 
and Mail was reporting on the new Council's "success" "which has 
strengthened provincial solidarity."  "The Council of the 
Federation, as a coordinating point for effective policy impact, 
appears very much to be working."  (Globe and Mail, Sept. 14 & 
15, 2004.) 
 
Comment 
----------- 
 
8.  (C) Of all the Premiers, Charest has the most at stake in 
the success of the Council.  Having a tough time these days in 
connecting with Quebec voters, Charest cannot count on the 
"charisma" factor to win Quebeckers over to the federalist 
cause.  To overcome Quebec's many Canada-skeptics, Charest needs 
to be able to point to concrete wins and to institutions that 
are seen to be working for Quebec.  Most federal structures -- 
from the constitution, adopted over Quebec's objections, to the 
Parliament where only the separatist Bloc represents Quebec -- 
are not presently helping the federalist cause in Quebec.  The 
Council of the Federation at this stage is contributing to 
Canadian unity and, as such, is a forum we should welcome. 
 
 
 
FRIEDMAN