Prime Minister Stephen Harper has replaced those once-common and very public federal-provincial meetings of first ministers with private, one-on-one encounters with premiers. Its been dubbed, the rise of the Harper Doctrine, a new way of taking care of politics in Canada. Can it work? And how will we know?

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Part One of The Current

Satire

It's Tuesday, January 3rd.

Despite the ongoing violence in Syria, the Arab League says its observers have prompted the government to withdraw tanks from cities and free 3,500 prisoners.

Currently, the observers will continue their work until Damascus stops killing protesters, or kills them all ... whichever comes first.

This is The Current.

Changing Federalism - Geoff Norquay

The sound of provincial politicians publicly arguing with federal politicians is as Canadian as the cry of the loon. But these days, that sound may be a little muted. And no, it's not because our politicians made some sort of New Years resolution to be kinder to each other this year. Not that we know of, anyway! Rather, some say Stephen Harper has dramatically changed how Ottawa interacts with the provinces. And what that shift means - among other things - is that federal-provincial deal-making is moving away from public conferences, toward low-key, one-on-one private meetings with the Prime Minister .

Our next guest thinks Harper's new approach is working better than the old model. Geoff Norquay is a former Conservative strategist to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and to Stephen Harper when he was Leader of the Opposition. He is now a principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group and his article The Death of Executive Federalism and the Rise of the Harper Doctrine appears in the current issue of Policy Options Magazine. Geoff Norquay joined us from Ottawa this morning.

Changing Federalism - Bob Rae

Well not everyone agrees the feds have developed a better way of dealing with the provinces. Bob Rae is interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. He was also the NDP Premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995.

Changing Federalism - Brad Wall

Well this is Canada, so ask a different premier, get a different answer. When Ottawa announced its new funding formula for health care last month, the response varied from coast to coast.

Alberta's Conservative Premier Alison Redford embraced the change. It will allocate future funds on a per capita basis rather than favouring the poorer provinces. But New Brunswick's Conservative Premier David Alward called the new approach "totally unacceptable".

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is watching all of this closely and we reached him this morning in Swift Current.

Related Links:

• Harper Conservatives' Dictatorial Federalism Threatens Healthcare Negotiations - Liberal Party of Canada Website
• Harper Government's Dictatorial Federalism Found to be Unconstitutional - Liberal Party of Canada Website
• Provinces get more autonomy to drive health-care reform By: John Ibbitson, Ian Bailey & Dawn Walton - Globe and Mail
  

Other segments from today's show:

• The story of Mohamed Bouazizi, the man who started the Arab Spring
• Adult Virginity