Premier MacDonald Meets with Prime Minister

Federal funding for Nova Scotia's highways and post-secondary schools are among the priorities that Premier Rodney MacDonald is emphasizing today, March 27, during a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa.

"Nova Scotia's main issues with the federal government include the need for a highway funding agreement," Premier MacDonald said. "Twinned highways are safer for drivers, important to our economy and are a critical part of our transportation system. We are doing as much as we can on our own to twin our 100-series highways, but we need the federal government to commit to doing its share."

The premier said improving the highway network is also a key component of the Atlantic Gateway strategy, which involves investing in Atlantic Canadian border services, ports, air and highway networks to ensure the region remains competitive in international trade and commerce.

Premier MacDonald also said he will raise with the prime minister Nova Scotia's concerns over federal funding of post-secondary education. Currently, Ottawa funds post-secondary education on a per capita basis. More out-of-province students attend Nova Scotia post-secondary institutions than there are Nova Scotians enrolled in other provinces.

"The fair solution would be to distribute the funding based on where the students are enrolled," Mr. MacDonald said. "We will always welcome these students and are proud that they chose Nova Scotia to further their education. We simply want a fairer method of distributing federal funding."

The premier said he would also address with the prime minister the fiscal imbalance that exists in Canada, which the federal government has said it intends to fix.

"We're very much in favour of correcting the fiscal imbalance among provinces and the federal government," Premier MacDonald said. "What is important to Nova Scotia is that all non-renewable resource revenues continue to be included in the equalization formula. Removing them will only make the imbalance worse."

Premier MacDonald said he will also use his first one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Harper to discuss Halifax's bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"This is my first-one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Harper, and it is an excellent opportunity for me to build a strong working relationship with him so we can work on the issues that are important to Nova Scotians."