Urqhart Calls It Skulking

I call it an attempt by Harper to reduce the posturing and reaching a consensus that is in the best interest of the citizens of Ontario.

What PM, premier discussed at secret talks
Nov. 8, 2006. 01:00 AM
IAN URQUHART

The phone call to Premier Dalton McGuinty from Prime Minister Stephen Harper came at 6 p.m. last Thursday. McGuinty was attending a provincial Liberal fundraiser in Windsor, so he didn't connect with Harper until he was on his way to the airport three hours later.

It was then that Harper invited McGuinty to a meeting.

The two leaders had been hurling grenades at each other for more than a week. McGuinty had called Harper's government "a recurring nightmare" (because the federal cabinet includes ministers from the former Mike Harris regime at Queen's Park), among other things.

In response, the Harperites accused McGuinty of "grandstanding" and cancelled a meeting with Ontario's minister responsible for native affairs after he had already arrived in Ottawa.

In short, relations between the two governments appeared to have reached a nadir.

At that point, McGuinty and his staff faced two options: escalate the conflict, perhaps with an advertising campaign, or call Harper and seek a truce.

Interestingly, it was Harper who called McGuinty to suggest a meeting over brunch at 24 Sussex last Saturday. Harper set a condition on the invitation, to which McGuinty agreed: There would be no advance publicity of the meeting.

An aside: When it comes to McGuinty, Harper seems to prefer skulking around. In their two meetings prior to last Saturday, one was unpublicized and the other was held on the condition that no cameras be allowed to record the event

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