Trudeau & The Premiers Met 20 Times Since Pandemic But Now The Blame Game Is Starting

Let the finger-pointing commence. That's because there may be some cracks forming between the first ministers in Canada.

With COVID-19 plaguing the country, the PM and the premiers have been teaming up to get Canada back on its feet. 

According to Justin Trudeau, they actually met a whopping 20 times since the very start of the pandemic.

He shared this intel during Friday's conference speech.

But one could assume that not all meetings have gone according to plan and there may have been instances where fingers were pointed at provinces for not keeping their end of the COVID-19 relief bargain.

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Justin Trudeau's comment about provinces live on-air 

The initial drama first unfolded last week, when Trudeau went on a Winnipeg radio station and suggested that if things are not up to par in other provinces, his government cannot be held responsible, according to a report from HuffPost Canada.

The relationships between all leaders appeared to look great as they were full of praise for each other and their work on the ground, the report said. 

But the tables seem to have turned in recent days now that COVID-19 cases have exploded in some regions and people are starting to point the finger.

Trudeau took to the radio station to explain some things, like how provinces decide what level of restrictions they are in.

He also reportedly said that he gave billions of dollars to provinces to get testing done, after being asked about the lack of testing and contact tracing happening in Toronto and Manitoba.

"Unfortunately, not every province has hit their agreed-to targets, that they committed to in terms of tests per day," he said, according to the report.

"It is up to the provincial government to roll out the resources that we have made available to them in the right way, and ask for more if they need it."

The premiers' response to the comments 

Doug Ford, Ontario's premier, said Trudeau could not have been talking about him when asked about that comment.

"We are kicking everyone’s butt on testing," Ford said, "I hope it wasn’t us."

However, Ontario apparently didn't hit their daily testing target of 70,000, sitting at 50,692 tests.

Although Quebec was not mentioned in the radio interview, the province has struggled with an increase in COVID-19 cases.

Minister Dominic LeBlanc, told reporters last week that Quebec is putting in the work too.

"We are doing our part," he said. 

Quebec targeted 35,000 tests but has remained stagnant as of September, during which the province's testing capacity was reported at 20,000 daily tests per federal government data.*

Here's where their relationship stands today

As of October 23, Justin Trudeau did have some kind words to say about his fellow commands after all. 

"We had a good discussion around sharing best practices across provinces," the prime minister said.

"We've seen that certain areas are having greater success in controlling the spread of COVID-19 in vulnerable populations."

He said that the advantages of a federation like Canada are that appointed leaders learn from one another in order to tackle challenges. He also said that everything happening in Canada is all of their business. 

*Editor's note: This article has been updated.