Ralph Goodale

[Taxation, November 2nd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the government announced during the course of the summer that we were putting two floors under the equalization program for this year: floor number one to ensure that the amount of money available would be at least $10 billion, and floor number two to ensure that provinces could rely upon the forecasts that were given to them in the month of February. Both of those floors are effective. They benefit both the province of Quebec and the province of Saskatchewan, as well as all of the other equalization receiving provinces.

[Natural Resources, November 2nd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, conversations are indeed ongoing between the Prime Minister and the two premiers and between me and the appropriate counterparts in the provinces. Let me give the hon. gentleman the firm assurance that Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador will fare far better in terms of keeping deals than David Orchard.

[Natural Resources, November 2nd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to tell the House that discussions continued yesterday and continue today with the two provinces involved. All of us are working very hard to find the right solution to this situation.

I can assure the hon. gentleman that we want to achieve those very positive results for Newfoundland and Labrador and also for Nova Scotia, which have been discussed in the last number of days.

[Natural Resources, November 1st, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and a number of ministers are working very hard on the issues identified by the former leader of the NDP. The Prime Minister has spoken with each of the premiers. I have had a conversation with corresponding ministers in a spirit of determination and goodwill. We all want to get the very best results for Nova Scotia, for Newfoundland and for all of Canada.

[Child Care, November 1st, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, part of the genius of the Canadian federation is that when social experimentation and good ideas are developed at the provincial level, they become shared among all Canadians.

A number of years ago the Province of Saskatchewan invented the concept of medicare that has become a jewel in the crown of Canada. I want to say that Quebec has developed the most sophisticated child care system in the nation. It is a wonderful thing that we are now taking steps to ensure that the same benefit can flow across all of Canada and Canada can benefit from the social innovations.

[Child Care, November 1st, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, there are policies at the provincial level that carry with them both positive and negative impacts federally, and there are policies at the federal level that have the opposite effect provincially.

In the ongoing arrangements between governments, every effort is made to accommodate those impacts as programs are designed but it has not been the tradition to provide any kind of direct offset or compensation. That has not been the tradition in normal fiscal arrangements among governments.

[Natural Resources, November 1st, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, in fairness, it should be pointed out that I spoke with Minister Sullivan on Tuesday of last week and invited him at that time to join the discussion. He determined at that time that it would not be appropriate with all of the circumstances. I am very glad that we resumed our conversation today. I am very hopeful about a successful outcome.

[Natural Resources, November 1st, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated in the past, we are essentially talking about four streams of revenue: own source revenue coming from the resource which is 100% going to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador; on top of that there is equalization; on top of that there is the existing money under the accord; and on top of that is the incremental money that we are now discussing.

I am very hopeful that we can come to a satisfactory conclusion.

[Natural Resources, November 1st, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, obviously it is the intention of the Prime Minister to keep his word. He has made that absolutely clear in everything that he has said on this topic.

With respect to the discussions with Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, it has always been clearly understood, both in writing and verbally, that whatever arrangement is finally arrived at for one province will be offered in absolute comparable terms to the other province with no substantive distinction between the two.

[Natural Resources, November 1st, 2004]

Not at all, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I had the opportunity to speak with Minister Sullivan in Newfoundland and we both agreed that it would be useful to have our officials speak later today.