Treasurer optimistic following national meeting

With the news that Ottawa will be increasing transfer payments to the provinces, P.E.I. Provincial Treasurer Wes Sheridan is optimistic about the Island's ability to weather a world financial crisis.

Sheridan attended a meeting in Toronto Monday with provincial financial ministers and federal finance minister Jim Flaherty. This was their first meeting since the world financial crisis and the Canadian election.

Some ministers feared Flaherty would bring a message of cuts. But instead Flaherty is promising hikes in both health transfers and social transfers for all provinces.

Sheridan said Flaherty assured the ministers Canada is in a better position than many countries to weather the current financial storm. But he said the ministers agreed to work together on several key areas to ensure the provinces aren't hurt by the downturn in the economy.

"We're going to work on pension issues, both public and private entities, so that we can relieve some of the pressures there," said Sheridan, in reference to drastic reductions in the value of savings programs with the collapse of stock markets.

Bolstering infrastructure program

Sheridan said governments would also be addressing difficult access to credit for businesses.

"We're going to look to make sure that the access to capital and capital market regulations are in place to make sure that our businesses out there can move forward," he said.

"The third one is that we're going to try to increase the effectiveness of the existing infrastructure programs and make sure that we inject the proper amount of cash into the economy."

P.E.I. will receive $340 million in equalization payments next year, a 5.6 percent increase. Ontario will receive equalization payments for the first time in its history — $347 million.

The finance ministers plan to meet again in December.