Premiers head to Montreal for tough meeting with Trudeau
MONTREAL — Premiers arrived Thursday for a first ministers’ meeting still grumbling about the agenda set by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with one — Ontario’s Doug Ford — threatening to walk out if the program isn’t expanded to reflect a host of provincial priorities.
The tone as they prepared to dine privately with Trudeau on Thursday evening underscored the tensions that seem likely to turn Friday’s meeting into the most acrimonious first ministers’ gathering in years.
Sources close to Ford said he’s prepared to walk away from the meeting if it does not include discussion of the federal carbon tax, which Ontario is challenging in court.
And when he met Trudeau in person at a downtown hotel for a preliminary meeting Thursday, Ford went right at him.