The Globe and Mail reports on the impact of “the historic federal election” on upcoming provincial elections.
It reports, “The election results are bad news for the Liberal premiers of Canada’s two largest provinces. …Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty…is vowing to stay focused on the issues that he says never go out of fashion for families: quality education, access to health care and jobs. …(Quebec Premier Jean) Charest went on the offensive on Tuesday, warning Conservative Leader Stephen Harper that his government would pay a price if it ignores Quebec.”
Provincial elections will be held in Prince Edward Island on October 3, Manitoba on October 4, Ontario on October 6, Newfoundland and Labrador on October 11, and Saskatchewan on November 7.
The newspaper reports, “Quebeckers are expected to go to the polls some time (in 2013). …British Columbia Premier Christy Clark…is vowing to go to voters sooner than the next fixed election date in May, 2013, to win her own mandate.” And it has been widely reported that a provincial election in Alberta is anticipated sometime between October 2011 and March 2012.
Provincial governments play a critical role in the areas of trade (particulary now under the Canada-European Union free trade talks, as well as inter-provincial trade), water (licenses, markets, water-takings, dams and power projects), natural resources (oil and gas), the environment and environmental assessments (the approval of mines and quarries, dumpsites, highways, private river power projects, fracking), health care (administration and funding), taxation (such as the HST), carbon emissions (provincial climate plans, the construction of highways, investments in renewable energy), electoral systems (such as proportional representation), and more.
