Nova Scotia Makes Secret Side Deal - NL Gets Budget Shaft
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and independent economist Wade Locke, has determined that the federal budget will cause Newfoundland and Labrador to lose approximately 500 million each year or $1.5 Billion over 3 years.
This comes at a time when the economy is already sputtering to hang onto life and the province is forecasting multi-year deficits which will be compounded by another half a billion a year thanks to this latest move in Ottawa.
The expected loss comes as a result of changes about to be introduced to the O’Brien formula and Atlantic Accord arrangements forced on the province by the Harper government. Changes which touched off the province’s ABC campaign during the last election.
Now the federal Conservatives have again changed the calculations unilaterally.
Premier Williams says he sees this move as a direct attack on Newfoundland and Labrador. Credence was given to this allegation today when reports surfaced that Nova Scotia Premier, Rodney MacDonald, has entered into a secret side deal with Ottawa to ensure that his Province will not be affected by this latest unilateral change to the Accord, leaving Newfoundland and Labrador the only Province of Canada adversely affected.
When asked by Randy Simms of VOCM radio if the six Liberal MPs from the Province plan to support their leader in voting for the budget MP Judy Foote responded that she will support the budget because her party has determined that “Canadians don’t want an election. They want us to get the job done…we have to do something and it means getting on with the job.”
Left unsaid was the fact that in “getting the job done” Ms. Foote and the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal caucus plan to do so on the backs of their constituents.
Perhaps Ms. Foote and her Liberal colleagues from the province might do well to remember the legacy left by Conservative MPs Fabian Manning and Loyola Hearn when they opted to toe the party line over the Accord rather than standing up for their province when the time comes to stand up in the House of Commons.
Even if the budget passes an election is likely within a year. Voters in Newfoundland and Labrador have already seen to it that no Conservatives were elected in the last election and they may well decide that the future is one where not only blue, but red as well, are no longer a part of the Newfoundland and Labrador election palette.
UPDATE January 30, 2009 - 2:03 PM NL Time:
News reports are surfacing that MP Scott Simms will vote NO on the budget in its current form.
Still no word from MPs Sibon Coady, Gerry Byrne or Todd Russell.
Will they stand with their constituents or will they decide to toe the party line in Ottawa instead?
UPDATE January 30, 2009 - 11:17 AM NL Time:
Thanks to the letters, phone calls and emails of constituents in the province Liberal MP Judy Foote has decided to support her province and vote NO on the budget if changes are not made to rectify this issue.
Here is an email I recieved from Ms. Foote today:
Thank you for getting in touch. I really appreciate hearing your views.
Let me put your mind at ease. For me, doing what is right for our province is to vote against this Conservative budget which I will be doing.
One of the problems in Ottawa is getting people to understand the seriousness of the situation.
I can talk until I am blue in the face but what I needed was hard evidence that the views I am expressing are real and represent the thoughts of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
As a result of my comments on Open Line yesterday morning I now have that hard evidence.
While I could have gone on open line and asked for e-mails and telephone calls to get your views, that could have been viewed as being contrived.
By laying out the options available to the NL MPs it generated the correspondence I needed that there is no question the people of Newfoundland and Labrador want their representatives to vote against the budget even that means sitting as independents.
I will be voting NO.
Judy
News reports today indicate that Avalon MP Scott Andrews has also decided to vote NO in support of the Province's position.
Author's Note: Web Talk encourages everyone to contact the Province's Liberal MPs and express their feelings over this issue. Anyone wishing to do so can contact them at the following email addresses:
Scott Andrews: Andrews.S@parl.gc.ca
Gerry Byrne: Byrne.G@parl.gc.ca
Sibon Coady Coady.S@parl.gc.ca
Judy Foote: Foote.J@parl.gc.ca
Todd Russell: Russell.T@parl.gc.ca
Scott Simms: Simms.S@parl.gc.ca>
26 comments:
It never changes, time after time we send these things (let's face it they are least then people) to Ottawa to protect the interests of the people of this province and time and time again, they look out for themselves first and us..... we don't even get last place on their lists.
We need people in Ottawa that will stand up for the people of the province not toe the party line.
We need to get the word out there, like I said I'd donate to a newspaper that would explain these and other issues to the rest of the people in the province.
how about this for a letter?
Hi,
Mrs Coady you never got my vote in last election because I truly did not believe you had the back bone to stand up for the people of this province. Now you have a chance to prove me and others wrong.
We don't care if the rest of Canada does not want a election. What we care about is what happens to the people of this province, and protecting whats ours. If you go against the people of the province you will more then likely end up like the members of the PC party (you know "whatever their names where") in the last election and lets face it there will more then likely be another election in the next year.
So I pray that you have the strength and will to do what is right and Vote against the Federal Budget and put the people of this province first, the very reason your up there.
Thank you
Here we go again Nova Scotia has no natural resource base worth speaking of, but has no problem doing side deals with Ottawa to give it the status of being the Capital of Eastern Canada.
Are we, as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, going to be satisfied to remain complacent, in other words stupid, to allow such agreements to happen, while the province of Newfoundland and Labrador has given its life's blood, in the name of its resources to the other parts of Canada, so that they could have created the wonderful economies that they were enjoying over the past 60 years.
We could have done it all on our own strength, given those great natural resources and our fine geographic location which was second to none in Canada.
Where are the voices of our politicians, our people, who are the electorate of Newfoundland and Labrador, our daily Newspaper, The Telegram, and our Radio Stations VOCM and CBC?
Can't we see that everything we were promised either by Ottawa or by Industry over the years has being reneged on?
For instance the Atlantic Accord has been changed many times, not in the favor of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians but for Ottawa.
Also Industries, over the years have made many promises and also have reneged on their promises. A great example which is raising its ugly head at the moment is the Voisey's Bay deal, our prime Nickel Ore has been shipped off to Sudbury, Ontario and Thompson, Manitoba for 10 years to keep smelters running there, with the promise of a smelter in NL, now that has been reneged on. What are we suppose to do in NL about the lies that are told to us to drag off all of our natural resources?
The time has now come for the NL electorate to open their mouths and have their voices heard by all Canadians once and for all on why we are so unhappy and so unequal in NL.
YES, WHY IN THE NAME OF GOD ARE WE SO COMPLACENT AND WHY ARE OUR POLITICIANS, THOSE WHO WE ELECTED TO LOOK AFTER THE NEEDS OF NEWFOUNDLANDERS AND LABRADORIANS IN OTTAWA, KEEPING THEIR MOUTHS SHUT TIGHTLY? IS IT TO PROTECT THEIR OWN SELF-INTERESTS?
I'm in Scott Simms riding and he just got my email. I also plan to send one to all of the other MPs over this.
This is the end for me. We've been stomped on too many times over the years by every political stripe. If the Liberals we voted into Ottawa can't stand up for us on this they can be sure never to get my vote again.
Christ, how many times have we got to get shafted before we make a change.
Iggy is an A-hole, Harper is an A-hole and I hope they all get what's coming to them.
TO: Scott Andrews: Andrews.S@parl.gc.ca
Gerry Byrne: Byrne.G@parl.gc.ca
Sibon Coady Coady.S@parl.gc.ca
Judy Foote: Foote.J@parl.gc.ca
Todd Russell: Russell.T@parl.gc.ca
Scott Simms: Simms.S@parl.gc.ca
TO ALL OF THE ABOVE: Please accept this post, if you read it, as my dissatisfaction with every politician who was ever elected and served only to look after themselves personally in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
THE TIME HAS COME UNDER THEIR WATCH TO SEE THAT RETRIBUTIONS ARE IN ORDER FOR THE PROVINCE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR.
It is nothing short of treason what has happened in the past that the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, which was bestowed by Nature with such a great endowment of Natural Resources and a Great Strategic Location to have become so dependant on whether Ottawa is going to hand out a few Million dollars from that which it received, sometimes directly and most of the times indirectly, from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. By that I am referring to the fact Ottawa dictated to which province our natural resources would be handed and from which Ottawa also received a tax base.
Neither can we forget that Ottawa has gotten billions from having 8.9% equity in our Oil, and the fact it holds our fish quotas which it metes out to foreign nations to garner international trade for its darling children in other parts of Canada.
Not to mention that when it didn't side with Newfoundland and Labrador in the Upper Churchill Hydroelectric Energy project for the province of NL to have the right to wheel it energy across Quebec, the same right that its other children hold, and as a result which then saw Quebec become the primary beneficiary of that coveted Hydro Energy for 72 years without an escalator clause, it dampened for a while the separatist sentiment in Quebec, which gave Ottawa some peace.
Also Ottawa should have known that a 72 year contract without an escalator clause would have come back to bite Newfoundland and Labrador in the Treasury, and thus Ottawa itself. It should have brought that fact to NL's attention. But the need to have Quebec on side, no doubt overrode that oversight, and with Ottawa in appeasement of that deal gave Ottawa lot of rest, yes, from the separatist unrest in Quebec.
IT WAS A GREVIOUS OVERSIGHT WHEN IT WASN'T BROUGHT TO NL'S ATTENTION WHAT COULD AND WOULD, NO DOUBT, TRANSPIRE OVER 72 YEARS, SINCE IT HAS ALREADY LONG COME BACK TO BITE BOTH OTTAWA AND THE PROVINCE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR MANY YEARS AGO.
Please forgive my CAPS, but I am very angry over what transpired because of either corruption or the oversight of somebody, I don't know who to finger, but it truly is a conundrum for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
TO: Scott Andrews: Andrews.S@parl.gc.ca
Gerry Byrne: Byrne.G@parl.gc.ca
Sibon Coady Coady.S@parl.gc.ca
Judy Foote: Foote.J@parl.gc.ca
Todd Russell: Russell.T@parl.gc.ca
Scott Simms: Simms.S@parl.gc.ca
TO ALL OF THE ABOVE: Please accept this post, if you read it, as my dissatisfaction with every politician who was ever elected and served only to look after themselves personally in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
THE TIME HAS COME UNDER THEIR WATCH TO SEE THAT RETRIBUTIONS ARE IN ORDER FOR THE PROVINCE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR.
It is nothing short of treason what has happened in the past that the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, which was bestowed by Nature with such a great endowment of Natural Resources and a Great Strategic Location to have become so dependant on whether Ottawa is going to hand out a few Million dollars from that which it received, sometimes directly and most of the times indirectly, from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. By that I am referring to the fact Ottawa dictated to which province our natural resources would be handed and from which Ottawa also received a tax base.
Neither can we forget that Ottawa has gotten billions from having 8.9% equity in our Oil, and the fact it holds our fish quotas which it metes out to foreign nations to garner international trade for its darling children in other parts of Canada.
Not to mention that when it didn't side with Newfoundland and Labrador in the Upper Churchill Hydroelectric Energy project for the province of NL to have the right to wheel it energy across Quebec, the same right that its other children hold, and as a result which then saw Quebec become the primary beneficiary of that coveted Hydro Energy for 72 years without an escalator clause, it dampened for a while the separatist sentiment in Quebec, which gave Ottawa some peace.
Also Ottawa should have known that a 72 year contract without an escalator clause would have come back to bite Newfoundland and Labrador in the Treasury, and thus Ottawa itself. It should have brought that fact to NL's attention. But the need to have Quebec on side, no doubt overrode that oversight, and with Ottawa in appeasement of that deal gave Ottawa lot of rest, yes, from the separatist unrest in Quebec.
IT WAS A GREVIOUS OVERSIGHT WHEN IT WASN'T BROUGHT TO NL'S ATTENTION WHAT COULD AND WOULD, NO DOUBT, TRANSPIRE OVER 72 YEARS, SINCE IT HAS ALREADY LONG COME BACK TO BITE BOTH OTTAWA AND THE PROVINCE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR MANY YEARS AGO.
Please forgive my CAPS, but I am very angry over what transpired because of either corruption or the oversight of somebody, I don't know who to finger, but it truly is a conundrum for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Hi all.
I'm a small business owner in AB. We employ about 20 people, 12 of them are ex-newfoundlanders. We are an oilfield service company. During the last election, the Liberal party ran on a platform centered round the carbon tax. A carbon tax which would have had a serious negative effect on the economy here in AB, and our neighbours in SK and BC, them being major oil/gas producing provinces. Dion even went as far to say "it will be good for you." Newfoundlanders voted overwhelmingly for those who wanted to put me out of business. NL'ers voted for those who would have made decisions that likely would have resulted in me losing my job, my business, my life savings and many more things in my life that I have probably taken for granted over the years.
Newfoundlanders voted for this situation to occur. Pleaded for it to occur. Wished for it to occur. Prayed for it to occur. Thankfully it did not.
But now that the shoe is on the other foot, well que the outrage.
What.The.F^%k.Did.You.Think.Was.Going.To.Happen???????
There was a saying that I really didn't understand until today. "Cutting off ones nose to spite one's face."
Clarity at last.
That's it, this has got to stop NOW!!!
If the people we elected to go to Ottawa don't do anything then we, as a people will.
It's time to stand up and send a clear message to Ottawa that we no longer want to be a part of this farce of a federation by not electing anyone, not a single soul, the next time out.
We need to either get out of Canada or at least not participate if we are still in it.
Just in case anyone is wondering where the 1.6 billion will go now that it's been denied to NL, here is the news out of Ontario:
"...Ontario Ministry of Finance projections estimate the federal stimulus package could inject between $17 billion and $19 billion into the Ontario economy over the next two years."
Surprise, surprise.
First of all Glenn, those people working in Alberta are not "Ex-Newfoundlanders" they are still Newfoundlanders who happen to be working somewhere else because the economy of this province has been so ravaged over the years that there was no work at home for them.
Secondly, Nobody in NL voted for you to lose your job. They voted against the Harper government and their actions that cost this province nearly 11 billion dollars.
The hope was that Canadians would see Harper for the sleeze ball he really is, that did not happen. This province did what it could to oust him so saying we got what we deserved when the person we voted against is doing this is beyond reality.
Also, the Carbon tax would also have affected NL, in case you don't know it NL is also a major producer of oil in Canada. That said, there is going to be a price to pay on carbon whether you or anyone else in Alberta likes it or not. With a new president in the U.S. changes to the way carbon is costed will happen and Canada will have no choice but to follow suit. In the long run, depending on the decisions made south of the border, you may be wishing for the days when a carbon tax was a possibility.
Now that you've been told the truth, which I'm sure you will ignore, why don't you go back to work and do your part to help the economy like a good little worker bee. I'm sure Mr. Harper will personally thank-you some day the way he's thanked the people of NL for doing what was right for their Province.
Why don't you all just separate and leave the rest of us Canadians better off. You can keep your fish, your oil (but not the stuff offshore because that belongs to Canada....not Newfoundland), your minerals and hydro and do what ever you want with it. But you don't get to keep the EI, or the federal transfers and you have to pay for your own defense, your own coast guard and everything else this country pays for on your behalf. Good riddance.
Better yet, why don't you form a separatist party and vote for that.....oh wait, you did that last election and it was such a success, wasn't it? Stop your frickin' whining!
"First of all Glenn, those people working in Alberta are not "Ex-Newfoundlanders" they are still Newfoundlanders who happen to be working somewhere else because the economy of this province"
Thank You Patriot.I will never be a Canadain. When I go down to the States for my job I never say that I am Canadain. I never lie to my co-workers.
To Anon 12:57,
Another member of the Great Canadian federation is heard from, or should I say the peanut gallery?
Well Anon, let me set you straight as I did Glenn.
You asked, "Why don't you all just separate and leave the rest of us Canadians better off."
Well Anon I ask myself the same question every day when it comes to seperation.
As for Canada being better off, don't kid yourself.
I'll have more to say on that further on.
You said, "You can keep your fish, your oil (but not the stuff offshore because that belongs to Canada....not Newfoundland), your minerals and hydro and do what ever you want with it."
Thanks for offering us what is ours but let me correct you, if NL was seperate the oil would not belong to Canada because it would not be inside their economic zone. NL would have full control, not Canada.
The resources you mentioned, in addition to the personal and corporate taxes from this Province, the fees charged for using our airspace, the human resources that would not be as easy for you people in Canada to take advantage of and shutting off the electrical supply to Quebec would leave Canada far worse off than you could ever imagine my narrow minded friend.
You go on to say that, "you don't get to keep the EI, or the federal transfers and you have to pay for your own defense, your own coast guard and everything else this country pays for on your behalf."
Sounds good to me. With the portion of our taxes, our airspace fees and the additional money coming from the Churchill that would be the way to go. In fact having our own military, coastguard, processing our resources here and using them for our own manufacturing economy as well as creating offices for social programs Ottawa manages now would serve us by employing our people here rather than in Canada. It would do wonders for our economy.
You then say "Good riddance."
All I can say to that is I agree, ditto or so long.
Then you say, "Better yet, why don't you form a separatist party and vote for that.....oh wait, you did that last election and it was such a success, wasn't it?"
First of all the NL-First party which ran in the last election is not a seperatist party. Get your facts straight.
They are a provincially managed party that is not answerable to a national body the way the Liberals, Cons or NDP are.
As for their showing last time out, they actually did about as good as the Greens or the Reform party on their first kick at the cat and we all know the influence those parties now have, one influencing policy and the other merged into the Cons.
Finally you say, "Stop your frickin' whining!"
My only response to that is:
1) I don't consider it whining, I consider it telling the truth and fighting or what is right.
2) No, I won't stop.
3) Nobody, and I mean nobody, least of all an anonymous voice from Canada has any right to me or anyone else to be silent. You might love for the people who fight for their rights to be silenced but that is not my problem, it's yours.
Cheers
Well said again patriot.
If we had control of the portion of our tax burden, airspace fees and other sources of revenue siphoned off by Ottawa we'd be far better off than we are today.
Anon 12.57, get a clue and get over it, this federation is a joke and you are one of its puppets whether you know it or not.
Anon NL hater:
Look at the Budget document itself. Table 3.9 http://newfoundlandincanada.blogspot.com/2009/01/george-orwell-and-budget-2009.html
Tell Newfoundlanders and Labradorians honestly if that doesn't show a bias towards NL in this budget.
Better to be aware and whining than asleep with your head up your ass.
http://www.budget.gc.ca/2009/plan/bpc3f-eng.asp
Thanks BNB, I visited the site and it's as plain as the nose on your face. NL is the only province to get less in this budget. How much more do we need to show that Ottawa is screwing us again?
Just stop and think about it for a minute.
Ottawa has seen to it that NL will get 500 million less this year and the same next year.
That makes us the only province to get less.
This is at a time when the budget is supposed to be stimulating the economy.
So as a result of this "stimulation" effort, in order to access infrastructure funding the province and municipalities are expected to cost share on an equal basis with Ottawa to access the funds at a time when our government is being short changed and driven into a massive deficit meaning no infrastructure work here.
Never mind that we already have the highest unemployment in the Country, something this budget is suppoed to help with.
Clearly this was intended as retaliation by Harper for not electing any Cons last time out.
So much for the premise that a government is supposed to represent the entire Country, not just those who supported its election.
I've got some news for Mr. Harper. His intimidation tactics won't work. He just signed the death warrant for any Conservative candidate in this province for an awfully long time to come.
Iggy is working on his good-bye note as well.
Good riddence to all of em.
First of all Patriot I have to say that I agree with Anon 12:57. I don’t know why I sense that people are getting their backs up. I think more Canadians should visit this blog and see what you have to say about this country.
Personally Anon 12:57, I love seeing you here. Why one may ask? Because, nobody wants to read the truth. You get angry and upset at what the truth really is. Knowing that everything your country stands for is a lie. You put on a pretty good face for the rest of the world but the world doesn’t see how you feed and destroy your own fellow citizens. The federal government feels it has to dupe a small province by holding its provincial government hostage so its resources can be stolen.
Then when the truth is reported and the light shines down on it you get angry and call us welfare cases and parasites. When in fact it is you, who must be ashamed to see how you’re very Government operates. Don’t get mad at those still living in Newfoundland or Labrador because they are finally standing up for what is theirs.
As for separation, I think that you’re only joking. I wish we had our country back. I dream of the day when Canada finally falls apart, and we raise our own flag again to sing “Ode to Newfoundland. “
You see Anon, I have my freedom not because some Canadian went off to war and fought and died for me. No Sir. I have my freedom here today because of the great men of Newfoundland and Labrador that went off to fight for my freedom and my rights. So my nation fought for its right to speak. And, I’m going to use it.
I’m going to use it to tell the world how an overpowering nation called Canada went into the shadows to tangle a defenseless nation called Newfoundland into a joining Canada after saying no, five, or was that six times. You see, you can tell the Québécois to shut it, and use that logic, but not us. We were a nation of free men and women long before your so called country came into question. We decided long ago to keep our own nation, but evil men do evil things. And, this is where your filthy bunch comes along. Yes, along with Britain, you stole a nation’s sovernity and imposed your will upon it. It sure hurts to hear what the truth is. How you stole and keep stealing from the smaller country, so that you can continue to live a life that you have not worked for. Your country steals resources from the aboriginal people of Labrador, and to this day refuse to compensate them accordingly.
So write back and tell me how great it is to be Canadian, while I hang my head in shame as I watch my nation die a slow death, because of evil men in Ottawa, continue to make evil choices.
“Republic Of “
PS, if the NLFirst was a separatist party my friend I would be making monthly donations to the party so it could succeed in restoring the province to where it should be, but again Canada didn’t live up to the terms of Union either did it.
OH and Glenn , I live in Ontario my friend. And , I will still say that Newfoundland and Labrador did the right thing to the Neo-Cons. Like it will do the right thing next election to the Liberals.
ABC/L < Understand this Iggy ???
Patriot you should start a facebook group and invite every NL you can find to the group. Then post links to your blog and others there.
You would hit so many more people it's not funny.
Nice try Myles. They aren't Newfoundlanders anymore, why even dear leader said that those from away should shut up and mind their own business and not inject their 2 cents into provincial matters. Remember that? If I am still a NL'er why can't I go salmon fishing like other "Newfies?" Why am I called a non-resident? Why do friends and family automatically look at and treat you like you are someone from away? No the only true Newfie is the one who sits on the rock, waiting for Danny to tell them what to do.
And you were willing to accept a carbon tax that would have raped the west to pay for the Liberals social programs. You voted for that. You know you did because the writing here always has an envious anti-AB stance . AB is holding back NL from developing its resources, Ab owns it resources, AB received equalization back in 58 when they were pumping oil etc. You and many others are consumed with jealousy/hate. It is always someone else trying to hold NL back. But Danny is a saviour. Danny who hasn't done a god damn thing to improve the lot around here. I have put more Nl'ers to work since 2003 than Danny has. And you ridicule me for doing so. Too bad Danny didn`t the same worker bee attitude that I have eh. He`s got that pride thing down pat though.
But don't worry Myles. You won`t personally see any of that 1.6 billion less in transfer in your day to day life, being on the Avalon and all. I`m sure my home riding of Lapoile will bear the brunt of the cuts, like they always do. It will be the rest of the island that we be most affected. St. John`s will continue to grow, houses will be bought and sold, new cars and trucks will pass you on your way to Timmies and the government of the day will continue to hire relatives of those that go on VOCM and write letters to the newspaper in favour of the King. The rest of the province is nothing more than, as one of your commenters so succintly put it a few months back, barbarians at the gate. Holding back the great city of St. John`s from realizing its true potential.
The truth is Myles that the current premier has failed us miserably. He told the PM, industry, big oil and anyone else who would listen to take a flying f*&k. We can go it alone. Newfies like you eat that shit up. Oohh the premier, the fighting newfoundlander, sticking it to big oil and those from upalong. My hero. Why are you suprised when they takee their ball and go home?
Sincerely,
Atilla the Hun
PS I am a friend of the truth Myles, don`t kid yourself. Sometimes its not what we want it to be but no illusions exist in my world.
To Glenn,
Once again you prove your ignorance of the truth in most of what you say.
I know there is no hope in imparting any knowledge to someone as far gone as you so let me close by saying one thing:
When you wonder, "Why do friends and family automatically look at and treat you like you are someone from away?" perhaps you should look to yourself and your own words/actions to find that answer rather than blaming those who "used" to know you.
Perhaps the entire Province isn't F&*ked up Glenn, more likely it's just you.
Glen, I don’t want you to get your back up or anything, but have you at least read the budget. Can you blame the province for getting its back up over such a budget and treatment such as this from their government?
http://newfoundlandincanada.blogspot.com/2009/01/george-orwell-and-budget-2009.html
I have already stated the fact that I live in Ontario Glenn, and I understand why the province and its people voted the way it did last election. After looking back on it can you blame the province for voting against a party that had broken the promises it had stated in writing. Would you and your new home stand for such treatment, I don’t think so. And, I know Ontario wouldn’t have stood for it either, but listen to how you sound. After having been treated like this you honestly expect the good people of Newfoundland and Labrador to suck it up, and take it yet again.
I have read the budget Patriot and I can see why the Province is getting upset. I can understand why the Premier is getting upset. Yet again, they have been let down by their government. It still is their Government, Glenn, and that’s the point I think you are missing here.
If the Federal government thought about its citizens as EQAULS, then nobody would have anything to say. And, that’s the point I believe should be made here. There are no equals. There are those that give constantly and then there are those that take.
Newfoundland and Labrador must adopt a mind set, Patriot equal to that of the everyday Canadian. You must change everything that you are so you may be JUST LIKE THEM.
Why after 59 years is Newfoundland and Labrador is trying to make it inside Canada, when it is so easy to see that Canada only wants the province to use it, as it sees fit. The same reason we are scattered around Canada like homeless gypsies.
I think it’s well past due that we have a strong look at Independence, and separation from Canada. The royal commission stated that we cannot continue this kind of relationship with Canada. It’s time the relationship was ended. Plain and simple.
Don't you get it yet? Efford, Manning, Liberal, or Conservative whatever it doesn't matter what national party you elect MP's to they are all the same when you belong to a minority prov in this phoney federation. All of the national parties have to work within the same tyranny of the majority system where in order to win power you need to be on the good side of the majority and the majority in this confederation live in Ontario and Quebec. 66% to be exact and further to that some 50%of the canadian population live in the urban cities none of which count from our province. You must be delusional if you think any national party will go to bat for 1.5% of the population and that includes the MP's you elect to those same national parties. Sure we don't even comprise the margin of error in the polls which is usually 3%. It isn't the national parties we need to change as we have see nit is the political system of Democratic Discrimination against the minority provinces by all of the national parties in favor of vote buying in the majority provinces. You could be playing this game till the cows come home of electing one or the other national proxy parties for ON/QU and expecting a different result and never change a thing. These are all symptoms the real root cause of our place in confederation is our lack of equality. If you really want to send a message to the confederation and have your elected MP's stand up for you tell them to cross the floor and stand up as Newfoundland and Labrador First MP's. As for defeating the budget it can only be done with the Liberals or in the Senate that is assuming Iggy doesn't tell the Liberal senators to pass it Like DIon did. So much for sober second thought. The senate is nothing but an extension of the systemically flawed HOC Per Capita Colonialism. Let your Newfoundland and Labrador MP, Senator or cabinet representative know what you think. MP HOC MacKay.P@parl.gc.ca, Andrews.S@parl.gc.ca, Byrne.G@parl.gc.ca, Coady.S@parl.gc.ca, Foote.J@parl.gc.ca, Harris.J@parl.gc.ca, Russell.T@parl.gc.ca, Simms.S@parl.gc.ca Senators bakerg@sen.parl.gc.ca, cochre@sen.parl.gc.ca, cookj@sen.parl.gc.ca, fureyg@sen.parl.gc.ca, rompkw@sen.parl.gc.ca, ManningF@sen.parl.gc.ca
If the supreme kangaroo court of canukistan didn't contravene the constitution where by all of the provinces are supposed to own, control and be the primary beneficiary of their own non-renewable resources we wouldn't of needed the Atlantic Accord and non of this would be an issue.
Equality or Exit is the only answer and anything less is capitulation.
Personally NL-EXpat, the canukistan constitution is a piece of paper i wouldnt wipe my A$$ with. I would be too afraid of catching some mainland venereal diseases.
Lies told by liars to keep the powerfull in power.
To Glen: Just curious... Did you know that the poor, have not, province of Alberta continued to receive equalization payments while they developed their oil industry? I guess you didn't or you wouldn't be disgustingly vile in your remarks about NL. Now that Alberta is rich it's very easy for them to look down their nose's at their poor eastern cousins. Like Alberta, it doesn't take long to forget where you came from does it.
Starrigan,
correction, it wasn't called equalization back then even though Alberta still took the tax money but your point is clear and well said.
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