Prime Minister Stephen Harper isn’t worried about the NDP provincial sweep hurting the Tories in the next federal election.
“Each election at each level of government transpires for unique reasons,” Harper told a crowd at Pier 21 in Halifax Thursday morning.
“My read of the provincial election here is that the issues were strictly provincial in nature.”
Harper was in town to announce that Pier 21 has been named the site of Canada’s national museum of immigration.
Before the announcement, Harper got the chance to meet and congratulate Premier Darrell Dexter, whose NDP party won 31 of 52 seats in the June 9 provincial election.
“I had a chance to talk to Premier Dexter last night. We talked about, obviously, issues of mutual concern, in particular the managing of the economy,” he said.
Dexter later told reporters he didn’t anticipate any problem working with a prime minister from a different party.
“Quite the opposite,” Dexter said. “(Harper) went out of his way to say the political stripe of provincial governments really didn’t matter at all.”
Both leaders were present at the Pier 21 ceremony. Pier 21 had already been named a national historic site. Now it will be Canada’s sixth national museum, and only the second outside of the Ottawa region.
The museum will be dedicated to recognizing the contributions of immigrants to Canadian culture.
The federal government will make an initial investment of up to $10 million and put up to $5 million towards the operation of the museum. The funding is in partnership with the Pier 21 Society, Pier 21 Foundation and Halifax Port Authority.
“We want to ensure that future generations will have access to our heritage, a working knowledge of the important tapestry of information that gave rise to our nation,” said Atlantic Gateway Minister Peter MacKay.
