Mr. Speaker, once again we see the ill conceived, grossly mismanaged TAGS program is spinning out of control.
The latest example is the admission by the Liberals that they have no money left for the latest round of licence buy backs. This means that at the end of the program all the same problems will still exist for Atlantic Canadians. There will still be 50 per cent overcapacity.
According to the Liberals their TAGS program was to be the saviour of Atlantic Canadians. It was to fix everything, but that was an empty promise. The TAGS program has failed them miserably.
The people of Atlantic Canada need stable economic options for the future. They need jobs and they need hope, both of which are desperately in short supply thanks to the government.
In Newfoundland alone 11,000 jobs have disappeared this year; this in an era of billion dollar make work programs. Atlantic Canadians do not need make work projects that keep them from prospering. They need long term solutions that only-