Mr. Speaker, a royal commission is currently holding public hearings in Newfoundland and Labrador on our status and our future prospects in Confederation.
Some 53 years after joining Canada we have one of the highest economic growth rates in the nation, yet we are still the poorest province with the highest unemployment rate.
One of the reasons for our lack of economic progress is the clawback provision in the current equalization formula. Fully 80% of all the revenues from the development of our natural resources is clawed back to Ottawa through reductions in our equalization payments.
Under such a formula it is impossible for a small province to make any economic headway, especially a small province in Atlantic Canada. We need a reduction in or the elimination of the equalization clawback if we are ever to claim our rightful place in Canada.