Debates of February 14, 2005 (day 35)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are to the Premier, and they relate to the amazing deal that was signed earlier today with two of the Maritime provinces on their resource sharing deals. I wanted to ask, Mr. Speaker, just what parallels are there between the deals that Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island have and the deal that we are seeking with Ottawa for our resources? Where are the similarities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 375-15(3): Resource Revenue Sharing Agreements

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The deal as signed today is actually with Newfoundland, Labrador and Nova Scotia, not P.E.I. P.E.I. is not involved in this. As the Member may remember or recall, several years ago, Premier Hamm in Nova Scotia was touring across Canada raising this issue of the unfair distribution of the off-shore tax royalties. This is an arrangement that was negotiated for several years, and it came to a head last June during the federal election. So it is a long-standing one. It did not go on, I don’t believe, as long as our discussions on resource revenue and royalties sharing have, but it has gone on a long time.

In our case, we have, in this government, worked out an agreement with the Prime Minister to come to an agreement-in-principle this spring and a final agreement in 2006. As I have said before in the House, I intend to keep the Prime Minister to his word on that. If we begin to slip and start to see time passing, if we have no agreement-in-principle and that we can see that the federal government, for some reason, is dragging its feet on it, then, yes, there may be very close parallels to what the people in this territory would want to do and what happened in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland/Labrador. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 375-15(3): Resource Revenue Sharing Agreements

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Premier’s correction. Indeed, it was not Prince Edward Island, but Nova Scotia that kind of also claimed that it has a brand new day. Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue following through with this. What we know to date, does this deal with these two provinces help the NWT’s case or could it, in fact, hurt us? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 375-15(3): Resource Revenue Sharing Agreements

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the face of it, it helps us because it sets a precedent that we can follow. But as the Member again may have noticed in the papers in the last few days, that Ontario are now raising some concern because they feel that the Prime Minister has done a one-off deal with two provinces that is unfair to Ontario, and that they're going to end up having to pay more than their share in equalization as a result of this. So on that front, there clearly has to be some discussion among the Premiers and with the Prime Minister to figure out how all of this is going to work.

There are other provinces that share the same kinds of concerns as we do. Saskatchewan, for example, has made it clear that they intend to try to work out a similar deal for themselves. So it helps us, but on the other hand it does create the possible imbalances that could work against us. But as far as I'm concerned, we have a deal with the Prime Minister -- a deal on devolution and resource revenue sharing -- and I intend that we will stick to that deal. We will honour it and we will trust him until he shows us, for some reason, that he's not going to live up to it. If that happens, then we're ready to take more drastic action. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 375-15(3): Resource Revenue Sharing Agreements

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. I do know -- and it's Valentine's Day so my heart is with the Premier and with the Prime Minister, too -- their promise is to see a deal that is going to mean net fiscal benefit. I've heard this from the Premier, I've heard this personally from the Prime Minister, that is where I want to go. But, Mr. Speaker, with suddenly these new demands coming from the provinces, there are many more provinces and they're a lot bigger than we are. While we have this understanding with the Prime Minister, do we also have this understanding with the provinces and are they going to keep us on their radar screen, as well? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 375-15(3): Resource Revenue Sharing Agreements

Mr. Speaker, we intend to stay on the radar screen. I can tell the Member that I am very much aware of what's happening. I spoke with Premier McGuinty on Saturday regarding Ontario's concerns, and I have his assurance that he's not trying to do anything that's going to undo our deal, nor is he trying to do anything that's going to somehow compromise what we're asking for. So I have registered our concerns with him and assured him that I'll be watching very closely what happens, and the arguments that Ontario is putting forward. If they are in any way seeming to interfere in our agreement, then I'll certainly let him know further. But I will be in contact and continue to be in contact with Premier McGuinty and other Premiers as these various scenarios unfold. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Your final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 375-15(3): Resource Revenue Sharing Agreements

Mr. Speaker, I applaud the Premier for taking the initiative to phone Premier McGuinty. That tells me that he's doing his job.

Where I wanted to follow through now is in the answer to a previous question. Mr. Speaker, the Premier said that we may need to take more drastic action. I wanted to ask what actions are available to us, or what courses of action are available to us to really ensure that we will stay on the radar screen and we will achieve a fair resource revenue sharing deal? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 375-15(3): Resource Revenue Sharing Agreements

Mr. Speaker, we have agreed to a process with the Prime Minister, we agreed to achieving an AIP this spring and a final deal in 2006. When that begins to fall apart, then we will look at what the alternatives might be.

At this point, Mr. Speaker, I don't want to start laying out possible scenarios; they're going to be seen as threats and I don't think our counterparts in this deal are going to view that very well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.