Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to the member's speech and I have a real concern with the way those members characterize the deal with the Atlantic accord.
I heard part of Cross Country Checkup on the CBC on my way to the airport on Sunday. The same kind of misinformation was being put out by various members. This is what I am talking about. Let me give the man a quick analogy.
Let us say an employee is hired onto a sales job and his boss said that he would pay him $5,000 a month. He was doing sales of around $100,000 a month. Then the boss said that instead of paying $5,000 a month, he would offer 10%, which would give him $10,000 a month income if he kept up the same sales level. However, the boss would give him the choice. He could either stay with the plan when he was hired or he could go with the new plan. It would be the employee's option.
Could that employee tell his friends that his boss had broken his promise? No, he could not because of the fact that the boss gave him the option. He could stay with the original deal or he accept the new one. This is exactly what the budget provides.
If the member had been paying attention to the Minister of Finance, he said that explicitly. I do not know why they keep saying it was a broken promise. It is up to the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador to say which kind of a deal he wants. He can keep the old deal and that would be fine. That is the promise made and that is a promise kept.