Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to the issue that has been brought before the House at a very appropriate time. I thank my colleagues from the Bloc for bringing this motion to the floor for two reasons. First, it gives us a chance to talk about an issue that is currently the centre of attention in Atlantic Canada and perhaps Canada in general, and second, it gives us an opportunity to talk about equalization itself.
I just heard the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance talk about all the money the government was giving to the provinces. It is amazing to hear government members say that they have increased the amount, that they are giving the provinces a share and that they have given the provinces above and beyond. I did not say this government because all governments have a tendency to do the same thing.
What government is really doing is giving back to people what they gave in the beginning. Governments use it for their base of operations, to keep them going and to help their friends in some instances. We see examples of that every day here. However, we then decide to give back to the people some of their own hard earned tax money. The thing is, one small clique in Ottawa decides who gets what.
The premiers were brought together last week and within a day they agreed, question mark, question mark, on an equalization formula. However, after reading the press, one discovers that just about every premier expressed displeasure with one part or another of the equalization agreement. One premier thinks the wrong formula is being used, another thinks certain elements should have been included, while others think certain elements should not have been included. It goes on and on. Suffice it to say that even though the premiers have made the best of a bad situation, nobody is really happy with what is happening.
The hon. parliamentary secretary raised two issues: CHST and equalization. He talked about CHST as being distributed on a per capita basis. The unfortunate thing about the Canada health and social transfer payments is that they have been cut so much over the last few years that provinces cannot pay their bills any more when it comes to health care but in particular, education, which has been left out of the loop entirely.
However, because of the total public outcry on health care, a conference was held a while ago which led the government to again committing to the provinces to give them back some of the money that it cut over the last 10 years that it has been in power to try to offset some of their health care debts.
However, as more emphasis is being placed on health care, less emphasis is being placed on education. Are we not smart enough to see that if we do not educate our young people they will be taking out of society for the rest of their lives? They will be taking money from the unemployment fund, the welfare fund and the housing fund. There will be penal costs. Our young people will incur drug costs and health care costs because when people have no money they do not look after themselves physically or mentally. It goes on and on. An educated populace is working, is active, and is contributing. It is a no no-brainer. We are sliding away from that to the point where many of our young people cannot afford to be educated and we will pay the price.
From this quick fix government, we are getting reactions to protests and reactions to pressure. We are getting a quick fix without any vision whatsoever.
With regard to the equalization process, the word itself should answer the parliamentary secretary's question. He asked my colleague which method should be used to distribute equalization payments: the formula presently used depending on need, or on a per capita basis. The parliamentary secretary asked the question so I will answer it from my perspective and the people from Quebec can listen. I know we will not agree on this part.
It would be to the benefit of Quebec, because of its population, to receive the payments on a per capita basis, but it would be to the detriment of most of the other provinces, and certainly to my own province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The reason we are putting so much pressure on the government to get our share of our revenues is to bring up our economy so we will no longer be a have not province.
The population of Newfoundland and Labrador has declined over the last 10 years by over 10%. Almost 50,000 people, most of them young people, have left the province. What does that do? Being the only province in the country with a rapidly declining population, if we are going to distribute equalization funds, which are supposed to equalize us in the light of fiscal capabilities, then we will be the ones getting the shaft. Not only that, with our young people leaving, the population left behind is older and therefore the needs become greater in terms of assistance and health care costs.
If we look at the geography of our province, which I have said over and over again, it is a geography spread over a big island and a large chunk of the mainland, Labrador, and we must try to deliver the same services as people would expect in the middle of Toronto. Some people think we should only get the same amount of money to do so, which is why the word equalization is as it is. It is supposed to equalize things but, as we all know, it has never done that and it is certainly will not do it under any formula the government has.
However, if need and geography were considered, then we would be treated somewhat more fairly than if it were based solely on a per capita basis. Certainly in that regard I have no problem supporting the need to address fiscal imbalance or talking about the need to look at the overall delivery of federal money to provincial coffers. What I do have a problem with is the mechanism of delivery.
In the time I have left I want to concentrate on our concern about the lack of funding coming to our province and how we hope to deal with it.
We have tremendous resources in our province. A number of years ago we developed the Upper Churchill, a power generating facility on the Churchill River that produced a tremendous amount of hydro power. We could not sell the power into the United States where the heavy demand was, or to Ontario, because between us and the market there was a province called Quebec. Unlike some other provinces, it did not feel it could give us free passage or wielding rights through the province.
The government did nothing about it. We were sold out by our own government more so than anybody else. We decided to sell Quebec the power at the then going price. We received about $10 million and Quebec received about the same thing. Somebody on our side forgot to put in an escalation clause. Quebec receives about a $1 billion today and we still receive $10 million. People will now understand why we are saying that we want our share of our offshore resources. We will not settle for anything less than fairness. We have gone through it once and we will not go through it again.
