VANCOUVER -Health-care funding and economic development will top the list of topics when Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie sits down with Prime Minister Paul Martin on Saturday.
The two leaders are scheduled to meet in Watson Lake, Yukon, in Fentie's home riding near the B.C. border, near the end of Martin's four-day tour of Canada's North. In an interview Thursday from Whitehorse, Fentie said Ottawa must deal with the "adequacy gap" in the North, where residents have trouble gaining access to the same level of health care southern Canadians enjoy.
"That will include the need for our ability to invest in prevention, the cost of transportation, other things like nutrition," he said. "Those are important in the North.
"Mr. Martin's already signalling that those are some of the focuses he has, so we're very encouraged that we're on the same page when it comes to those issues."
Fentie will also push Martin on the need for federal investment in northern economic development, which he said will reduce the North's long-running dependence on the southern taxpayer.
Fentie's government tabled a record $705-million budget this year, which included a $40-million deficit. More than half the budget comes through federal transfers to the territory.
"A specific area I would address with the prime minister is of course Canada coming up with a much better sharing arrangement when it comes to resource revenues that Canada earns and ensuring a better share of those revenues remain in the North," he said.
"It's all about reducing the federal government's exposure here and increasing our own-source revenues."
Ottawa should also target the region's aboriginal people who make up most of the territory's roughly 30,000 population to give them a greater role in development, he said.
The Yukon has suffered a decade of economic sluggishness because of a decline in its key mining sector, said Fentie.
"That's starting to turn around again for the North, for the Yukon for sure," he said. "We're experiencing increases in exploration."
For the first time in decades, energy companies will be drilling for natural gas in the southeastern corner of the territory.
Tourism has been an important revenue earner but the economy as a whole relies heavily on government stimulation, which is reflected in this year's record budget, said Fentie.
Despite its current deficit, Fentie noted the territory has more than $300 million in accumulated surpluses socked away.
Fentie said he expects Martin to solicit his views on issues such as Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic and responsible economic development.
The territory is ready to participate in proposed Alaska Highway and Mackenzie Valley pipelines, if they get off the ground. Fentie said his government is encouraging more front-end aboriginal involvement in the projects.
