Our new man in Ottawa, back from a visit and photo op in the Oval Throne Room in Washington, called the heads of the provincial and territorial governments suggesting a meeting in Saskatchewan in early June. All were eager to hear about his time in Washington.

What did they have for lunch? Was there really a photo of C. Freeland with a red X crossed through it on the wall? Did Don actually tell JD to ‘hush’? And was the Prez really shocked to hear the suggestion of a Partnership?

Putting the social gossip aside, the PM said what he wanted from all of them, was a short list of priorities, maybe five items, that they could sort through when they were in Saskatchewan, the land of the living skies where the sun never sets (it just goes splisssh over Alberta). If this sounded like a board meeting at Berkshire, no one said anything.

Danielle Smith raised her hand, saying she had already given the PM her nine-item list, but the PM said, no, five max. Smith commented that “The new PM looks worse than the old one”. Besides, someone in the PMO had tossed her list (Marco found it in the waste basket – see above). Accidently – a reflex from the past ten years.

The idea was to find some common ground across the country, gird up our loins, and get to work fixing not only our economy but also our sovereign democracy. PM Carney, still new to Ottawa, was hopeful that there would be common items on the checklists, so he could apply his attention and many skills to get something done in his first 100 days of a sitting parliament. He reiterated that his name was not Justin.

Checklists are a good thing. It helps one focus. It sets priorities. My son, a commercial pilot, uses a checklist every time he gets in the cockpit. Where are they going? Do they have enough fuel? Weather? Are there enough snacks and coffee for everyone? Did everyone go pee before coming on board? Are all the doors closed? Is everyone sitting down? Stuff like that.

As a child, we were warned that Santa Claus was keeping a list of who was naughty and nice, checking off our names before the December 24th delivery date. One could, of course, send him a checklist as a reminder. Maybe it was more of a wish list than a checklist.

I hope that our delegates to that June meeting are making a thoughtful list – not a pie-in-the-sky list that our previous PM seemed to like. He would promise anything – and then apologize for not doing a darn thing. Sort of like a Santa Claus misplacing the list, I suppose.

In days of yore when we used to visit the Sunshine State, we had a checklist to be certain we had everything we needed: passport, pills, and a pocketful of money. Nowadays, one should check off the things you don’t want to take or have follow you to the USA. Like things you might have said on social media about Himself; comments you may have made in emails (Mother Meta is watching and keeping a list); your cell phone; proof that you never went to Harvard; removing all the labels that say “Made in China”; and your Toronto Blue Jays ball cap.

Carney is hoping for things like abolishing inter-provincial trade barriers, standardization of professional qualifications, adjustment of equalization payments, tariff-free natural resource exports, defense spending, and new markets for oil, steel, aluminum, potash, canola, LNG, and maple syrup. Oh, and pipelines will be on the checklist.

Closer to home, my friend is looking for a new house. She has a checklist that has 13 items on it. In this market, I thought that a little wishful. I said her list looked like a Danielle Smith demand list, but I gathered she was not up to date on the political scene. 

I can understand that she wanted more rooms because she likes having guests. Being close to their work would be important, as would be access to grocery shopping and health services. A garden is nice. I can understand not wanting fibre rugs. But highlighted in yellow marker was ‘walk-in closet’. Yeah, I get that. Once you have had a walk-in closet you never want to give that up.

Once you have been manufacturing automobiles for a hundred years, you never want to give that up. Once you have been selling crude at a discount for years, you do not want to give that up. Once you have been selling raw lumber for hundreds of years, you do not want to give that up and maybe do a little more value-added work to the wood. The same with aluminum and steel. Maybe we have been crouching behind the shield of the US military, and we do not want to give that up.

The list goes on.

Let us see what goes on the new checklist. Is it time to come out of the convenience of the walk-in closet? Just asking.