Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak against this divisive minority Conservative budget. I say divisive knowing that the Tories themselves are divided on its merits, especially when it comes to their successful efforts to create a fiscal imbalance in Canada.
This weekend a Conservative candidate in a Newfoundland riding, Ms. Cynthia Downey, washed her hands of the Conservative Prime Minister, her own leader, in no uncertain terms. Not only will she not run again, she says that she feels “very betrayed because...I spent...weeks saying that”--the current Prime Minister--”was the person who would work best for Newfoundland and Labrador....this gentleman has not done what he said he was going to do”. She said that the Conservative Prime Minister, whom she campaigned for last time, has got feet of clay.
There are so many things that could be said about the shameful flip-flop by the Conservative government. The only thing is most of them have been said before.
For instance, “It is so nice not to have to drag a prime minister kicking and screaming to fulfill a promise to our province”. That was Premier Danny Williams speaking not so long ago about the current Prime Minister and, by implication, insulting the former Liberal prime minister. I wonder whether Danny Williams would say the same thing now.
In a speech to the Empire Club of Canada in February 2005 Premier Williams said that the prime minister, the member for LaSalle—Émard, “lived up to his commitment. I applaud the Prime Minister for keeping his promise”. It was a Liberal promise made and a Liberal promise kept. Contrast that with what Premier Williams now says about the current Prime Minister and his duplicity and broken promises.
Here is another line said by another Conservative: “What we need is fairness. We certainly do not need another snow job”. That was said by the current Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. A snow job is just what the people of Newfoundland and Labrador got. It is also what the people of Nova Scotia and the people of Saskatchewan got. It was a blizzard of deceit. What about this statement:
This deal must be outside the equalization process. This deal must confirm that 100% of the revenues go to Newfoundland and Labrador. This deal must not be subject to clawback. This is what was promised and this is what must be delivered.
That is a statement by the same minister again in a press release dated October 18, 2004. I wonder, does the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans today feel the same way?
I will mention this statement:
The two MPs reiterated that the Prime Minister's promise of 100% of offshore revenues, with no Equalization clawback, is a promise to which they intend to hold the...government, today, next week and in the weeks to come--until the promise is honoured in deed, as well as in word.
The two MPs who iterated that are, once again, the current Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the member for St. John's East.
Our regional minister had another line for the press after his motion was voted on back on November 16, 2004: “This vote was either you're for us, or you're against us”. Perhaps it is time for him to decide who he was for, who he was against.
How about this statement: “I'm really surprised that”--he--“would sell out our province on billions of dollars”. He said that they have gone back on their word and that it is okay to share in poverty but not in prosperity.
That was said by the minister's colleague, former provincial finance minister Loyola Sullivan, who now is in patronage heaven in DFO. He was talking about our former regional minister, Mr. Efford, in the Transcontinental newspapers in November 2004.
There is this one: “We cannot be assured of obtaining 100% of the net revenues from offshore...unless the Conservative Party has made these solid written commitments, wins this election and becomes the Government of Canada”. That was said by former Conservative cabinet minister John Crosbie writing in The Western Star in June 2004. How naive. We had a written commitment. Look at what it was worth. It was not worth the paper it was written on.
The Conservatives opposite vilified and demonized hon. members on this side of the House throughout 2004 and 2005 and now they find themselves defending their own broken promises. We kept our promise on the Atlantic accord.
Premier Williams recognizes that the former prime minister, the right hon. member for LaSalle—Émard, kept his word and he also recognizes that the Conservatives have not kept theirs. It was a Conservative promise made and a Conservative promise broken.
All three Conservative members from our province have disappointed us on this issue. They have turned their backs on the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The member for Avalon, for example, wrote, “no province will be adversely affected”, to which the premier responded:
It basically doesn't give the clear and unequivocal support that I asked for....That letter could have been a lot stronger.
I have in front of me the Prime Minister's letter of January 4, 2006. It contains his promise concerning equalization. It is one of six occasions where he made the same promise in writing, the same broken promise. It would be one thing if this were the only Conservative broken promise to our province and to my riding of Labrador, but it is just one of many.
The Prime Minister also said:
A Conservative government would support extending custodial management...to the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap--
Now the fisheries minister is NAFO's best friend and NAFO is his best friend. He says everything is fine beyond the 200 mile limit. It was a Tory promise made and a Tory promise broken.
The Prime Minister wrote, “We support...in principle” a loan guarantee for the development of the Lower Churchill. I noticed that the Prime Minister recently announced financial aid for hydro development in Manitoba, for which I am pleased for the people of Manitoba, but anyone who was counting on federal money for hydro projects in Labrador is sorely disappointed. It is a Conservative promise made and a Conservative promise broken.
The Prime Minister wrote:
--an effort must be made to ensure that there is a fair distribution of the federal government presence across the country.
According to the most recent Statistics Canada data, there were fewer federal employees in our province after the Tories took power than there were the year before. Again, it is another Conservative promise made and another Conservative promise broken.
The Prime Minister promised a Conservative government would support a cost-shared agreement to complete the Trans-Labrador Highway. What was in the Tory budget? There was no money for the Trans-Labrador Highway, not a cent. There are infrastructures, like the building Canada fund, but the Trans-Labrador Highway is not eligible. Thanks for nothing, I say to the Conservatives, literally. It is a Conservative promise made and a Conservative promise broken.
The Prime Minister wrote that a Conservative government will:
Station a new Rapid Reaction Army Battalion...at CFB Goose Bay.
Station a new long range Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Squadron at CFB Goose Bay....maintain a foreign military training program at 5 Wing Goose Bay and actively encourage increased allied flying training operations at 5 Wing Goose Bay.
Four Tory promises made and four Tory promises broken; goose eggs for Goose Bay.
This one is a gem: “A Conservative government would live up to and respect its constitutional responsibilities” for Marine Atlantic. The constitutional responsibility is to maintain a service to Port aux Basques in accordance with the traffic offering. What did the Conservatives announce last month? They announced Marine Atlantic fare hikes, fuel surcharges, and hints that they will reduce services, and there is nothing in this budget. It is a Tory promise made and a Tory promise broken.
The Prime Minister wrote:
A Conservative government would develop infrastructure programs which will allow provinces to address their unique needs and requirements.
What is in the budget? There are infrastructure programs that go nowhere near far enough and which certainly do not allow us to address our needs or requirements, especially in Labrador. It was a Conservative promise made and a Conservative promise broken.
And of course, there is the granddaddy of them all, where the Prime Minister wrote:
We will remove non-renewable natural resource revenue from the equalization formula--
It was a Conservative promise made and a Conservative promise broken. My Liberal colleagues from Nova Scotia have made that very point forcefully in the last number of days.
No one on this side believes that the Conservatives kept their promise. No one in the provincial government believes it. No one in our media believes it. The only ones are the Conservatives over there, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, the money bunny, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who are hiding behind their buddies on the front benches, deflecting questions on how they have betrayed their own people, the very people who elected them. The members for St. John's East, Avalon, South Shore and Cumberland—Colchester are the only ones who believe they have kept their word. They might be fooling themselves but they are not fooling anyone else and they do not deserve a second chance to entice the people again with promises they have no intention of keeping.
On behalf of the people of Labrador, I will vote against this budget.