Madam Speaker, I must confess that I am not fully versed on what was said before I came to the House today, but I can easily understand where the Bloc is coming from on this particular issue.
Quebec is a lot like Newfoundland and Labrador in that regard. It has been the victim of the fiscal capacity for quite some time and it, like us, has been the victim of threats from the federal government. When we speak of threats, I am appalled at what I am reading here today and what was passed to me a few minutes ago.
I am totally appalled that the Prime Minister's Office would stoop to the level that it is stooping with regard to this offer that is on the table for Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Prime Minister's Office is warning that Newfoundlanders will be the real casualties in the anti-Ottawa crusade that Premier Danny Williams launched this week when he walked away from the first ministers' meeting and accused the Prime Minister of lying.
He is making a mistake of historic proportions and he is doing it on the backs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, the Prime Minster's spokesman Scott Reid said yesterday. He may get some short term gains, but he will pay for this, he said, in the long run. At stake, said the Prime Minister's Office, is the billion dollar plus deal that languishes on the negotiating table, and the problem that the premier will have eventually is that the truth will get out and he is going to pay for what he has done to the Prime Minister.
Can you imagine, Madam Speaker, in this day and age, is that not a sad commentary on federal-provincial relations? We have the premier of a province working hard, passionately for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, to get the people to the point where at least they are staying home and that the province is not losing its population in such a very real and serious way.
Can you imagine, Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister's Office today issuing that kind of a release, warning the people of Newfoundland and Labrador that if they do not kowtow to what is being promised, they will pay for it in the long run? Is that the state of federal-provincial relations to which we have come to in the country, where the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is not free to hold the federal government to the promises it made to the people in the election campaign without being the victims of a threat from the Prime Minister's Office?
How dare the Prime Minister of this country and his office use the office of Prime Minister in that way, to threaten Newfoundland and Labrador. This is a sad day for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and instead of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador paying, let me assure the Prime Minister that he will pay in the long run.