The intent of the accord was not an “instead of”. It was not the Atlantic accord or the new equalization. It was above and beyond any other program of the federal government. It was meant to help Nova Scotia and Newfoundland reduce their debt, use the money from their non-renewable resources to invest in their province. The Province of Nova Scotia, with their first cheque of $850 million, paid down their debt. They're able to invest $50 million a year now in services for Nova Scotia: education, highways, health, and so on. That was the intent of the accord.
Now if they want to have the same advantages other provinces are having for new funding under the equalization, they have to abandon their accord. They have to tear it up. And that's not right. That's not what your members, across the way from ours, and the Atlantic members in the Liberal Party were fighting for when we got the accord.