Mr. Speaker, as a resident of Nova Scotia, I am proud to stand up for the residents in this very important debate.
First, I want to thank my Conservative colleagues for bringing forward this motion today. I am rather disappointed we will not vote on it. I do not understand for the life of me why an important issue of this nature is not debated and voted on right away, but somebody somewhere on the government side has decided he or she does not want to vote on this. There must be specific reasons for that, which is a debate for another day.
I want to correct a few things. I have heard my colleagues on all sides say this and I wish from this moment on they would stop using the term have not province. I do not come from a have not province. My colleague from Cape Breton, my colleague from Prince Edward Island and my colleagues from Newfoundland and New Brunswick do not come from have not provinces. We have some of the greatest people in Canada living in our provinces. We have some of the greatest scenery in our provinces. We have some of the greatest resources. Maybe we are not as financially well off as other provinces, but to say someone from Newfoundland and Labrador, P.E.I., New Brunswick or Nova Scotia comes from a have not province indicates to us that we are have not citizens. That is absolute nonsense. That kind of dialogue originated from the south end of a north bound cow and it has to stop.
I encourage my colleagues on the federal level and, most important, on the provincial and municipal level, to stop using that term. I consider it very derogatory and it is not helpful in the debate. If we want a lift up instead of a hand out, then we should talk about that.
My colleague from Medicine Hat is absolutely correct when he says that the government must keep its promises. Government members must keep their promises. If they made them in the heat of the battle of the election, then the Prime Minister and the finance minister should not be too upset when we in opposition say that we want them to keep their promise. That is the basis of this debate. If people say something to the electorate before the election, they darn well will be held to account by opposition members, not only in the other three parties, but by the provinces as well to maintain their promises.
There is another error in judgment which the provinces have made in this debate. I go back to a question I asked my colleague earlier. During the Meech Lake debates, Gary Filman, the premier of Manitoba, was in a minority situation. At that round table, where there was a very serious discussion affecting Canada, he brought along the leader of the NDP, Gary Doer, and the leader of the Liberal Party, Sharon Carstairs. During that whole session, Mr. Filman and the other two leaders talked to each other on a regular basis to decide what would be best for Manitoba.
I encourage my Premier of Nova Scotia to bring along the leader of the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia, as well as the leader of the NDP to show a cooperative common front. I know Darrell Dexter of the NDP in Nova Scotia and Francis MacKenzie of the Liberal Party have indicated support for Premier Hamm's campaign for fairness. Why not bring them along to the debate?
I also encourage the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, who was very bombastic the other day, to do the same. He reminded me of the days of Brian Peckford. Of course the debate between Mr. Baker and Mr. Crosbie was very entertaining indeed. Is it helpful to the debate? I think if Mr. Williams brought along the leader of the NDP and the leader of the Liberal Party, it would show force that were united in our discussions with the federal government.
Now getting to the federal government, the Liberal government has to understand it is not in a majority situation anymore. It does not hurt to have the dialogue with the opposition parties on an issue facing Atlantic Canada, one that is so serious to our future.
Regarding the offshore oil and gas accords, there is no question that all of us in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador would love to keep 100% of those royalties. We know that when we had the opportunity of joining Newfoundland in its confederation of 1949, when Canada joined it, part of the deal was the federal government would have responsibility to share offshore resources, including fisheries and any mineral deposits that may be there. We know how well the federal government has managed the fisheries off the east coast. We certainly do not want it managing our offshore oil and gas in the same manner. In my belief, those provinces have the right to 100% of those royalties. Just as important, we do not need to have the equalization clawback.
It is similar to when the federal government gave the national child tax credit to Nova Scotia, and then the Nova Scotia government clawed it back dollar for dollar. That is not helpful to those people and the clawback of equalization would not be helpful to the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
There is no question that we are on the precipice of something very good for Atlantic Canada. We have the opportunity financially to get our house in order, start reducing our deficits and debts, and start reinvesting into the economies of Atlantic Canada. Not just for Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, but I also include P.E.I. and New Brunswick as we consider ourselves one big family. From the shores of Cape Breton to the shores of Labrador we have great potential to go forward, but we need leadership from the federal government. That leadership should be in cooperation with the leadership of the other parties as well.
That cooperative approach along with the cooperative approach from the provinces would probably have mitigated this debate here tonight. These two trains coming at each other on the same track dialogue must stop. I have been involved in union negotiations for many years with the airlines. I always noticed that it never worked if the two sides were yelling, screaming and threatening each other. It is helpful if the sides sit together in a room. I always like to say to lock them up in a room, give them a big pot of coffee, lock the doors, and do not let them out until they reach an agreement.
I am very hopeful that the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador will come to a consensus with the federal government. But the federal government has to understand that it simply cannot do this on its own. Liberals need the cooperation, the discussions and dialogue with the other opposition parties. The Liberals are no longer a majority any more.
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador have a great future ahead of them with oil and gas right now but with other aspects down the road. I do not know how many Yukoners actually moved to Nova Scotia to find work, but on the east coast, our greatest resource is our children and many of them leave Atlantic Canada for better jobs throughout the country, either to Alberta, B.C., Ontario or wherever. We would like to bring those kids back and we would like to provide them with the economic opportunities so they will not have to move in the first place, so that they can raise their children where their grandparents lived.
If indeed that happens, it would be a great day for all of us in Atlantic Canada and it would help the rest of the country. It would give up that perception that we in the east are the weaker sister or weaker cousin in this relationship since Confederation. I do not believe we are the weaker relation at all. Our economies may not be as strong as in other areas of the country and there is a myriad of reasons for that.
It is not just the federal government's fault. It is also the fault of the provincial and municipal governments. Collectively, we have not done a great job managing the economy of the east coast, but we have to hope for the future. We have to hope that there are opportunities down the road. We have to hope that we could once and for all get rid of the image, not only in this legislature but in other legislatures, that we are a have not province or a have not region.
We are a have region. With the right development, the right legislation, the right policies, and the right attitude we can go a long way in our future, not only for us but for our children and their children as well.