Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very good question. Of course not. They have not been fairly dealt with in the throne speech, which is why we currently have a royal commission holding public hearings in Newfoundland and Labrador on our status and our future prospects within Confederation.
We could not agree more with the member. Newfoundland has been in Confederation for 53 years, has had the highest growth rate in the nation for the last two or three years and it is still a poor province with a very high unemployment rate. It all goes back to one point, which is affecting Quebec and all of Atlantic Canada, and that is that we cannot make any kind of economic progress in smaller provinces if we do not have some kind of recognition by the federal government that we need an adjustment in the equalization formula. Fully 80% of all revenues from the development of our natural resources is clawed back to the federal government. Under that kind of formula it is impossible for a small province to make any kind of economic headway. We need a reduction in or elimination of the equalization program.
Another area which I never had a chance to deal with is the fishery. The Speech from the Throne makes absolutely no reference to the fishery, as well as to our fish stocks on our continental shelf outside the 200 mile limit. Our fellow NAFO members do not enforce conservation rules as we are all very well aware. An item that is receiving a lot of debate in my province is the fact that NAFO members do not enforce conservation rules for their fleets fishing on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap. Even if the federal government made some kind of commitment to help the province out in that regard it would be a step in the right direction toward establishing my province as a have province at some point in the future.