TORONTO – An NDP MP from Toronto slammed Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne for their “childish” feud during Question Period in Ottawa Friday, something she says is getting in the way of fixing gridlock.
“Gridlock is costing our city $6 billion a year, infrastructure throughout the province is in desperate need of repair but instead of working together in the interests of Ontarians, Conservatives and Liberals are waging a partisan war of words,” Peggy Nash, MP for Parkdale-High Park said.
“Why are the needs of Canadians taking a back seat to the Conservatives’ childish battles with the provinces?”
Peter Braid, the Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Communities, responded to Nash saying the Conservative Party looks forward to working with Ontario under the Building Canada Plan to build needed infrastructure.
The feud between Wynne and Harper escalated during the provincial election in April when Wynne slammed Harper for not supporting the Ontario Pension Plan. The feud came to the fore Thursday when she made a public request for their first face-to-face meeting in a year and released letters from her cabinet ministers to their federal counterparts.
And it might not be getting better anytime soon; Harper was in Toronto Thursday but met with newly-elected Toronto Mayor John Tory rather than the premier, despite her request.
Tory said he had a “productive” meeting with the prime minister about SmartTrack.
“I have my job to do as mayor of Toronto,” Tory said. “I’m going to work very hard to maintain two excellent relationships with the provincial and federal government.”
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