Madam Speaker, I would say to the people of Canada, particularly of Newfoundland and Labrador, that the explanation we have just heard is about as clear as drilling mud.
We can understand full well why there is not a deal. The minister who just spoke has no idea what this is all about. He himself just now admitted that he was briefed last Friday. We know that to be true. We know that the Prime Minister had the Minister of Finance handle the deal. The Newfoundland minister of finance also handled the deal.
The Minister of Natural Resources was briefed last week. He went to the province to sell a deal that for the first time, since negotiations started, was put in writing. He referred to the Government of Newfoundland turning down the deal in 1984. Why? Because when the minister at that time, Mr. Chrétien, made the offer, the minister of finance, Mr. Lalonde, and Prime Minister Trudeau would not put it in writing. Does that have a familiar ring? Yes, it does.
Mr. Williams said quite clearly that the agreement which he thought he had negotiated was not in writing. He had absolutely nothing from the government in writing until the Minister of Finance gave the minister a copy of a deal to take to the province and sell it. The premier says that the agreement he thought he had reached did not include a cap or a reference to a fiscal capacity. It did not include any linkage to the fiscal capacity of other provinces. It did not include a timeframe. In fact it specifically excluded it.
However, the deal the Minister of Natural Resources was sent to the province to sell included all of the above.
The minister went to Newfoundland and Labrador and said, “Here is the deal. Do you want it, Mr. Williams? Do you want it Mr. Sullivan? Take it or leave it. There aren't going to be any changes”. Does he still stand to that position?