Mr. Speaker, I wish to be recorded as voting yea on this.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
Business of Supply October 30th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I wish to be recorded as voting yea on this.
Atlantic Accord October 30th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence recently announced that legislation to implement the new agreement with Nova Scotia would be tabled this fall, but last week his cabinet colleague, the government House leader in the other place, said:
There is no legislation to be tabled...people are misinformed if they think this agreement was a new agreement...
The answers could not be more opposite. One minister says there will be legislation and the other minister says there will not. Would the government clarify this so that Nova Scotians can know whether there will be legislation or not and when they will see it?
Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary raised a whole bunch of questions with his answer and I only have a minute. First of all, I think the member referred to the premier as Danny MacDonald and I think he should be referred to as Rodney MacDonald.
The parliamentary secretary mentioned that the new program is to apply equally to all provinces. Another journalist in the Chronicle Herald said that based on what he read, his interpretation was that the government would bring in legislation to change the equalization formula and give Nova Scotia a unique formula different than all the provinces. It says that it is different than all the programs available to all the other provinces.
That is the problem with not having a written agreement. There are three different newspaper articles by three professional journalists that take different positions than the parliamentary secretary has outlined.
The article in The Hill Times says that the intention is clearly to have these amendments included in the next budget implementation act. Budget implementation acts usually come in in March. Is that when we can expect this legislation?
Mr. Speaker, I understand the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance will be responding. I am very glad to hear that, because I know that if I ask a reasonable question I will get a reasonable answer.
My question is a follow-up from a previous question. At that time, I was trying to point out to everyone in the House that we are trying to understand the new Atlantic accord deal but it is difficult without a written agreement that we can check.
I pointed out and read from an article in the Halifax Daily News, saying that its interpretation of the agreement, based on the information available, was that the province will give up “all claim to all entitlements guaranteed in the Atlantic Accord”. I had planned to read from another article in the Chronicle-Herald, which basically said the opposite, but today there is a newer one that is even more the opposite.
I read these just to point out how confusing it is for those of us in Nova Scotia who are trying to understand this agreement and want to support it. We hope we can support it. We hope it is a good deal.
One newspaper, based on the information available, says that we lose everything in the Atlantic accord, while The Hill Times of October 22 states that “amendments will be introduced to reverse the amendments made to the Atlantic Accord in the 2007 budget”. That is everything we ever asked for. That is exactly what we want. That is exactly what we all have been asking for in Nova Scotia: that the amendments be reversed.
That is what The Hill Times article says, but the other article says its interpretation is that “the province...gives up all claim to all entitlements guaranteed in the Atlantic Accord”. We could not have two more opposite interpretations of the agreement. One says we lose everything, while another says we get everything back. I called both journalists. They are both well respected and they both said they wrote their articles based on the information they had available.
The problem is that there is no written agreement. I hope that soon we can have a written agreement, because we want to support this deal if it is a good deal. Again, though, one newspaper says we lose everything under the Atlantic accord and the other says we get everything.
I hope the most recent one in the The Hill Times is right. It says that “amendments will be introduced to reverse the amendments made to the Atlantic Accord in the 2007 budget”. That is all we have ever found fault with. The 2007 budget amended the Atlantic accord and changed the most important aspect of it, which is the way one calculates the payment of the Atlantic accord. The Atlantic accord said it will be based on the equalization formula that exists at the time the payment is calculated and the budget says that from now on the payment will be calculated based on the previous formula. It is a fundamental change.
If this newspaper article is right, then I will be really happy and I will go away. I hope it is right, but the other article says we lose everything under the deal. Does the parliamentary secretary know which of these media reports is right? He may not have seen The Hill Times article, but if he has, is it right? I hope it is. If there is no written agreement, is there a plan to bring one in soon, even before the legislation for the amendments comes in?
Equalization Payments October 18th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I just sent to the Minister of Finance a chart of the projections prepared by the Government of Nova Scotia relating to its interpretation of how much money it will get out of the new exchange of letters. Will the minister confirm that the provincial chart I just sent him is the same as the federal projections?
Also, the exchange of letters says the amendments to legislation will be made but they do not say what legislation will be amended. Will the minister tell us what legislation will be amended as a result of the exchange of letters?
Equalization Payments October 17th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I would like to tell the House that I did have the opportunity to talk to former Premier John Hamm. I asked him if he had seen a copy of the contract. He said, “No, I haven't”. So, I do not know how he came to the conclusion, but I have great respect for John Hamm. None of us have seen the contract.
There was an exchange of letters. The minister of finance for Nova Scotia said that the federal minister will make amendments to the 2007 budget to reverse the changes to the equalization formula made in the 2007 budget. There is no reference to this in the throne speech, so when will the minister table the amendments as promised in the exchange of letters?
Equalization Payments October 17th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, The Daily News in Halifax wrote an article the other day. It said that under the new arrangement to which the minister just referred, “--the province also gives up all claim to all entitlements guaranteed in the Atlantic Accord”.
That line sends a shiver down the spine of every Nova Scotian. I do not think it is right. I hope it is not right, but the fact of the matter is that we just do not have a signed agreement that we can check to see whether it is right or not.
When will the government just produce a copy of the agreement so that we can all assess it and decide whether it is a good deal?
Income Trusts June 13th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I missed my whip so much I voted the wrong way. I would like to change my vote. I voted yea, but I would like to vote nay, please.
Budget Implementation Act, 2007 June 12th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member mentioned that because my first grandchild will be born in August and her name will be Willow. We are all quite excited about it. Here is to Willow Victoria Casey.
Most economists estimate that by the government not honouring this contract, it will cost Nova Scotia about a billion dollars. That means so much in the way of economic development, future growth and not being able to build infrastructure to attract industry and investment. It will have an impact on everyone for decades and decades to come.
When this agreement was signed it was not signed as part of an equalization formula. It was signed as an economic development program. Now it is being taken away because the government made it part of equalization and removed the concept and changed it dramatically.
Budget Implementation Act, 2007 June 12th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I wish I could answer that but I cannot even come close because I do not understand why the Conservatives do not understand why a signed contract should be honoured.
I think every Canadian should demand of their government, whatever government it is, that if we sign a contract, if we put Canada's signature on it above the little red flag that we are all so proud of, that commitment should be honoured no matter where it is.
I do not understand. I have a theory though. I think the government wants to have uniform programs for everything. It wants to run Canada by an Excel spreadsheet. It wants everything the same. That happened with the summer job program. It wanted to do everything the same.
The problem is that we are not a uniform country. We cannot have uniform programs in this country because we are not uniform. We have so many different economic and cultural standards in the country that are different that it just does not work.
I think the Conservatives, if they want to stay in power, will need to adapt and realize that every region has different challenges and that they need programs that are designed to meet their needs. We just cannot have one program that fits all.