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Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Canada's provincial premiers during the First Ministers' Meeting held in Vancouver, British Columbia March 3, 2016. REUTERS/Ben NelmsBEN NELMS/Reuters

The Trudeau government's lengthy to-do list includes more than a few items it cannot tackle, or has promised not to tackle, without provincial co-operation. But a federal government dependent on finding provincial agreement had better come armed with a super-sized supply of patience, luck and cash.

Take that Liberal campaign promise to expand the Canada Pension Plan. Not long after the election, Finance Minister Bill Morneau met with his provincial counterparts; before the meeting was over, CPP expansion had moved from the top of the to-do list to a vacation destination called Limbo.

Or take climate change. The broad outline of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's policy is that Canada must significantly lower greenhouse-gas emissions to meet its international commitments, and that means working with the provinces to come up with uniquely provincial solutions to achieve minimum national standards. As part of this, the federal government believes in putting a price on carbon, but it wants to leave it up to each province to come up with its own carbon price and carbon-reduction mechanisms.

In theory, there's a lot to recommend this approach. The most economically efficient way to reduce carbon emissions in most instances is to put a price on it. What's more, if each province creates its own carbon tax or cap-and-trade system, it keeps 100 per cent of the revenue. A province could even follow the British Columbia model – Canada's best – where $1.2-billion a year in carbon taxes on fuels like gasoline is used to reduce other taxes, giving BC among the lowest income-tax rates in the country.

But what if a province says, sorry, we don't want the revenue from our carbon tax – because we won't be introducing one? That's the position of Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall. He's up for re-election next month and isn't interested in raising taxes (even if he could use them to lower others) or doing anything perceived as harmful to the oil industry. Besides, his attacks on Liberal Ottawa over the past few months have made him into one of the country's most prominent conservatives. Saying "no" is his happy place, at least on this issue, and he's not alone.

Ottawa has the power to impose a national carbon tax. But for now, that's a power it's wisely trying to avoid exercising.

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