Dealing with the Provinces

Ontario premier Mike Harris, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard, 1999.  Copyright/Source

One of the prime minister's hardest jobs is dealing with the provinces. The premiers, leaders of the provinces, often meet with the prime minister to talk about important issues. Often they do not agree. The disagreements are usually about how to share money and power, or what is best for the people in their province.

Key Word

• premier:
  • Leader of a province. Premiers also have a lot of power, but mostly in their own provinces. Like prime ministers, they are leaders of their parties, but only in their own province. They have many of the same problems as the prime minister.