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Executive Council March 20, 2007
Premier Williams says "A Promise Made is Not a Promise Kept" The following are quotations from Prime Minister Stephen Harper (then-opposition leader) in the House of Commons during a debate on November 4, 2004: "This is a commitment that was made by me in my capacity as leader of the Canadian Alliance when I first arrived here and has its origins in the intentions of the Atlantic Accord signed by former Prime Minister Mulroney in the mid-1980s. These are longstanding commitments, our commitment to 100% of non-renewable resource royalties. It was our commitment during the election, before the election, and it remains our commitment today." "The eight year time limit and the Ontario clause effectively gutted the commitment made to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador during the election campaign. Why should Newfoundland's possibility of achieving levels of prosperity comparable to the rest of Canada be limited to an artificial eight year period? Remember in particular that these are in any case non-renewable resources that will run out. Why is the government so eager to ensure that Newfoundland and Labrador always remain below the economic level of Ontario?" "The Ontario clause is unfair and insulting to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and its message to that province, to Nova Scotia and to all of Atlantic Canada is absolutely clear. They can only get what they were promised if they agree to remain have not provinces forever. That is absolutely unacceptable." "What is at stake is the future of Atlantic Canada, an unprecedented and historic opportunity for those provinces to get out of the have not status that has bedevilled them for decades. What is at issue is very simple. It is the honour of the Prime Minister (Paul Martin), and all he has to do is keep his word." The assertion by Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday that his election promise has been delivered to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador is fundamentally wrong and misleading and the people of Canada should be wary of any promises made to them by the Harper Government. The Honourable Danny Williams today reacted to a letter sent to him by Prime Minister Harper yesterday in which the Prime Minister claims to have lived up to his repeated commitment to remove non-renewable resource revenues from the equalization formula. "The Prime Minister of this country came to our province on repeated occasions when he was the Leader of the Opposition and he made a promise," said Premier Williams. "The promise did not have caveats or qualifications. It was a principled-based promise that stated that natural resource revenues would be removed from the equalization formula. Stephen Harper came into our province and said essentially here is my promise to you; elect me and my party and we will give you more than what you have now, because it is the right thing to do. Yesterday, Prime Minister Harper told the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and essentially the people of Canada that his promises do not matter. His promises do not count, and they most certainly cannot be relied upon." One example of the many written commitments can be seen in the Prime Minister�s letter to Premier Williams during the last federal election - //www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2006/exec/0116n03.htm. "A promise made is not a promise kept. I find it offensive and unbelievable that we are now being criticized by the federal government and others for simply asking the Prime Minister to live up to his commitment. Not partially, or with trap doors and caveats, but to truly live up to his commitment. If he does not live up to this clear election promise, then every Canadian should think long and hard about any promise made to them." Premier Williams said the options outlined in the federal budget yesterday whereby provinces can choose the manner in which equalization is applied to their province, is an intricate game of smoke and mirrors, including a fiscal capacity cap which nullifies the Prime Minister�s commitment to remove non-renewable resources. "While the federal government gives the illusion of allowing provinces to opt for a 100 per cent exclusion of natural resource revenue-based formula, they shrewdly immediately apply a fiscal capacity cap on that formula," added Premier Williams. "This negates the benefits of using the 100 per cent removal formula. It is terribly misleading and disingenuous, and I am quite frankly appalled that the Prime Minister and his government would betray the voters in this way." Premier Williams said back when his government was negotiating with the previous Liberal government for the new Atlantic Accord, Stephen Harper vehemently opposed such a fiscal capacity cap. "The absolute about face of Stephen Harper is nothing short of betrayal. It also flies in the face of what he fought for before the people of this country elected him as their Prime Minister," said the Premier. Premier Williams acknowledged that for this year, the province is not worse off and Atlantic Accord benefits are not being eroded. But status quo was not what the Prime Minister promised, and long-term that seriously erodes the Prime Minister�s promise. "There has been a breach of trust here, whereby we see our province being seriously disadvantaged. Other provinces that were promised nothing are getting tremendous benefits from this federal budget and the new changes to equalization. And we applaud them and congratulate them on this. However, our province and others to whom promises were made are left high and dry, yet we look unreasonable because we are asking for a promise to be kept? It is a very sad day for this federation." -30- Media contact: 2007 03 20
11:35 a.m. |
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