Charlottetown politicians can't agree over who should meet first with Gail Shea, P.E.I.'s representative in the federal cabinet. (CBC)

Political and union leaders on Prince Edward Island are calling on the province's representative in the federal cabinet for help in the wake of federal job cuts, but there's a debate over who MP Gail Shea should meet with.

A report sponsored by unions, the P.E.I. government and the City of Charlottetown found about 400 jobs, 10 to 12 per cent of the federal workforce, is being cut on P.E.I., most of those in Charlottetown. Coun. Mitchell Tweel would like the Shea to come before council to explain why Charlottetown is being asked to shoulder such a heavy burden.

Tweel doesn't believe it would be a great imposition for Shea to appear.

"I mean, Gail Shea's office is a hundred yards from city hall," he said.

Coun. Cecil Villard agrees a meeting should be scheduled with Shea, but he thinks the meeting should be with the steering committee that was behind the report.

"I think, initially, that meeting should be with the group that has been really driving this whole issue," said Villard.

"If there was an opportunity, and if Minister Shea was open to a subsequent meeting with council, then I'm sure we'd be very happy to entertain that."

But Tweel said the committee has completed its work, and he believes Shea and the Minister of Veterans Affairs, whose department has its head office in Charlottetown, should meet with city council.

"It's time now to go to the next stage," said Tweel.

"We have to have dialogue with the two federal cabinet ministers that are sitting at the cabinet table."

A spokesperson for Gail Shea said on Friday her office has not received a request for any meetings. If one comes, she'd be happy to consider the request from whichever group wants to talk with her.

For mobile device users: Who should federal cabinet minister Gail Shea talk to first about government job cuts on P.E.I.?