Blackmailing Newfoundland and Labrador

Just when it looked like the Newfoundland economy had turned a corner, news reports suggest the Atlantic Accord - which will give Newfoundland and Nova Scotia a much greater share of offshore oil revenues - may not pass a vote in the House of Commons:

Federal cabinet minister Geoff Regan says Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's threats to vote against a Liberal money bill jeopardizes the offshore revenue deal worth billions of dollars to Atlantic Canada. Harper has suggested his party will vote against Bill C-43, claiming it contains provisions concerning the Kyoto Accord to reduce emissions blamed for global warming. Regan says if the Conservatives defeat the budget bill, the changes to offshore revenue sharing will also be defeated. Part 12 of Bill C-43 authorizes Parliament to provide an estimated $2.6 billion into Newfoundland and Labrador's coffers over eight years. Nova Scotia would receive some $1.1 billion. Regan says he is concerned. He says the Liberals have no plans to remove the revenue-sharing deal from the main bill, as the budget is the place where it makes sense to have it.

The St. John's Telegram has more details (the story can be found at their nightmarishly designed website, but you have to go through the "News" menu to find it):

The Liberals tabled Bill C-43 late Thursday — shortly before Parliament recessed for Easter.

The bill includes the legislation that would implement the new Atlantic Accord offshore revenue-sharing arrangement.

But the Accord legislation was bundled up in a budget bill with a grab bag of other issues — including aspects of the Kyoto accord.

On Thursday, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper vowed to vote against Kyoto-related provisions in Bill C-43.

That sets up a game of chicken which could lead to a snap election no party claims to want.

It could also derail the implementation of the Atlantic Accord deal, which is worth at least $2 billion to Newfoundland and Labrador over the next eight years.

Harper accused the Liberals of seeking “unlimited power to implement Kyoto without ever bringing a plan to Parliament.

“This is a back door way … a dangerous way of proceeding, and it will certainly not have the support of this party,” he told the Commons after the bill was introduced.

NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe both said they would vote against the bill even though they support the Kyoto treaty, because they disagree with the budget as a whole.

If all three opposition parties vote against it, the government could fall.
[...]
[Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe] said if the Liberals want support on Kyoto they should produce a bill devoted to that issue, not just lump Kyoto provisions into the budget legislation.

Layton said Canadians don’t want an election “but when we see this kind of game-playing with budgets, it makes it very difficult.”

Loyola Hearn, the Conservative MP for St. John’s South-Mount Pearl, called the decision to fuse the Accord approval with other legislation a “conniving method of doing this — it’s treachery.”

He accused the Liberals of using the tactic to pit Conservatives against each other, and potentially derail the Accord.

Hearn said Friday that the collapse of the Accord would quiet demands for similar deals from Ontario and Saskatchewan.

“I don’t trust (the Liberals) as far as I can throw them,” Hearn said. “You can see where the pressures are on to kill this bill … If they can blame the loss of this agreement on us or on the Bloc or on the NDP, they’d love it.”

Asked if the Accord is now in jeopardy, Hearn said, “No doubt about it.”

If the legislation goes to a vote as is, Hearn said he would be forced to vote with the Liberals, no matter what the consequences.

“You cannot ever turn your back on your province on an important issue like this, even if it meant your party says, tough stuff, you have to sit in the last seat, last row,” Hearn said.

This decision is exactly what we've come to expect from the Liberals: scummy, and also politically smart. No one has lobbied and agitiated more for this offshore deal than Newfoundland Conservatives - but if C-43 fails and an election is called, you know the Liberals will use it as the centerpiece of their campaign in Atlantic Canada. Would it work? Probably not, if voters are made aware of what really happened, but it would put the Conservatives on the defensive.

If I were a Conservative (or NDP) MP from Newfoundland or Nova Scotia, I would ultimately have to vote for the bill. What the Liberals are doing is sleazy and dishonest - but if the offshore deal fails it would be devastating for this part of the country. It's blackmail - and it may work.

Posted by damian at March 28, 2005 07:58 AM