Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the parliamentary secretary.
The notion was that ACOA, or funding for regional economic development programs like ACOA, could be used to address issues like corporate taxes which are an impediment to economic growth. The idea deserves further debate and discussion. That is the type of thing we should be doing at the finance committee, frankly. We should be taking a hard look at our economic development strategies.
That is not to say everything ACOA does is wrong. Some of ACOA's involvement has been successful. However I believe aggressive tax strategies could achieve more than direct government investment in businesses.
The Atlantic innovation fund has not yet, to my knowledge, made an investment in Atlantic Canada, although some of its $700 million has been announced three or four times in various forms. The program was announced in a great flurry of media activity in Halifax last summer in a pre-election move, after the Liberals were once again able to find Atlantic Canada on a map. With media and spin doctors present, they presented the oft-announced plan from a Brink's truck in front of the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax. The plan has yet to congeal.
In Atlantic Canada no one yet knows how the program will work or how the funding will be delivered. The Canadian Foundation for Innovation continues to invest in other parts of the country but is holding off to a significant degree in Atlantic Canada until the new growth or innovation fund is put together. It is not achieving its goals.
In terms of the clawback, there is a precedent from which Alberta benefited. The member said if that were the case Alberta would still receive equalization. That is not true at all. His argument is wrong because Alberta was able to achieve a level of self-sufficiency which prevented it from being able to receive equalization.
That is what we want to achieve in Nova Scotia. However in the interim we do not want to lose, in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick or any recipient province, 81% or 81 cents of every dollar on clawbacks. That would prevent provinces like Nova Scotia and New Brunswick from reducing their corporate tax burden and debt burden and from effectively embracing the opportunities of the new economy.