Quebec Premier Jean Charest is calling on the prime minister to get the country's premiers together for a meeting to discuss Canada's soaring loonie.
"It's having a major impact on exporters in Canada," he said in Quebec City on Thursday.
"I believe it's very important that we be able to sit down and try to better measure the impact and what we should be doing to ensure that our economy isn't adversely impacted by these changes."
Charest said his province's economy is driven by exports, which help to maintain its standard of living.
On Wednesday, the dollar briefly surged above US$1.10, but then dropped back down. It closed Thursday at US$1.0684.
A Tory spokesperson said that Harper may hold a meeting with the premiers later this year or early 2008.
According to the Canadian Press, Dimitri Soudas said that the prime minister had hoped to meet with the premiers over the summer, but couldn't because of several provincial elections.
Charest's call for a premiers conference came on the heels of a meeting between Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. McGuinty said afterwards the prime minister did not say if he'll call on the Bank of Canada to drop interest rates to lower the value of the Canadian dollar.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Thursday it's not his or the prime minister's place to get involved with interest rates. He said monetary policy is the Bank of Canada's responsibility.
CTV parliamentary correspondent David Akin said calls by various premiers to stop the loonie's surge may be more political than practical.
"Really, there's not much that anyone in Canada can do about the dollar," he told CTV Newsnet. "The story of the loonie's rise is really a story about the U.S. greenback's fall."
Although Ontario and Quebec want Ottawa to do something about the high dollar, not all provinces want the Bank of Canada to take action.
B.C.'s big concern: inflation
British Columbia Finance Minister Carol Taylor told CTV Newsnet that the province's economy is relatively healthy.
"So our take on it is slightly different," she said.
"I would say to you that one thing that we are thinking about is the inflation side. So, I've got lots of respect for the difficult job the governor of the Bank of Canada has to do."
Taylor said Bank of Canada head David Dodge has to balance the needs of all parts of the country and inflation is something that he is concerned about.
She added that the high dollar will allow B.C. and Canadian businesses to head south to upgrade machinery, something that will benefit their bottom line in the years ahead.
Taylor noted that there does appear to be differences between the way some Eastern provinces are reacting to the high dollar and those in the West.
"In fact, that's not all that unusual because in the past when Ontario has been booming, we've had some really difficult recessions out here in B.C. It is a different situation right now."
With files from The Canadian Press
