Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed the comments from the member for Kings—Hants. I think he is trying to be creative by putting out some ideas and propositions.
The notion that money from ACOA or an equivalent amount could result in the elimination of corporate income taxes in Nova Scotia is interesting. I am not sure how that would work at the federal level in the sense of uniform corporate tax rates. That is the kind of thinking we need to get into.
Last year the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency allocated $700 million to the maritime provinces to encourage innovation and transition economies et cetera. Unfortunately the take-up on it has not been significant, but it offers some big potential.
I will touch briefly on the question of offshore resources. In 1986 the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore accord was signed. The accord shelters a percentage of Nova Scotia's offshore revenues from equalization reductions for a transitional period of 10 years. Whenever the accord is triggered, Nova Scotia would be able to effectively shelter 90% of offshore revenues against equalization reductions in the first year. Thereafter, protection decreases by 10% each year until it reaches zero, at which time the tax rate would return to the normal 100%.
The accord was never meant to provide a permanent benefit to Nova Scotia. It was triggered in 1993-94 as offshore productions began in the Cohasset and Panuke gasfields. Since then Nova Scotia has received a total of $32 million from the accord.
We need to be clear about this. Any suggestion that equalization payments should remain intact while a province like Nova Scotia grows richer must be rejected. If we followed through on that proposition we would probably end up paying equalization to Alberta.
I wonder if the member for Kings—Hants could elaborate on those comments. I refer specifically to the analogy he drew in redeploying, let us say, ACOA resources in Nova Scotia to a reduction in corporate taxes. Does he see that at the provincial level or the federal level? How exactly would that work?