Reaction in Nova Scotia

[jdobbin]

I'd rather ask him when he has a majority.

Opposition parties won't likely be on board for stopping he Handouts to Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

It won't matter if he has a minority or majority. He can't do it without going to the provinces and re-opening the Constitution.

[Fain]

It won't matter if he has a minority or majority. He can't do it without going to the provinces and re-opening the Constitution.

Then i hope that happens then. I want the problem fixed.

[jdobbin]

Then i hope that happens then. I want the problem fixed.

We'll see if he wants to go through the same problems that Mulroney went through on Meech and Charlottetown. It isn't an issue you can do things unilaterally. I don't see how Quebec or the Atlantic provinces would give up their seat counts that they presently have. If you can get those provinces to agree, there is no deal.

[Robespierre]

So far I don't think this is going over too well around. People are trying to figure out what this deal is. Apparently there is no documents or contracts besides two letters between the federal government and Rodney.

Rodney is a weak leader and is a federal conservative first, the Premier second. He also had to nerve to say that he would be supporting the federal conservative candidate running in Casey's riding like he always has after Casey was the only MP who stood up for NS as the Premier had asked. What an awful bunch. Keddy will be lucky to keep his seat and you never know.. McKay could be upset in his riding if this keeps up.

[Michael Bluth]

The money that Danny is whining about goes above and beyond this part of the Charter.

"Parliament and the government of Canada are committed to the principle of making equalization payments to ensure that provincial governments have sufficient revenues to provide reasonably comparable levels of public services at reasonably comparable levels of taxation." (Subsection 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982)

Danny can provide a reasonably comparable level of public services at the moment. He wants more than is called for by equalization. That change would be easy for Harper to bring in.

[jdobbin]

So far I don't think this is going over too well around. People are trying to figure out what this deal is. Apparently there is no documents or contracts besides two letters between the federal government and Rodney.

Rodney is a weak leader and is a federal conservative first, the Premier second. He also had to nerve to say that he would be supporting the federal conservative candidate running in Casey's riding like he always has after Casey was the only MP who stood up for NS as the Premier had asked. What an awful bunch. Keddy will be lucky to keep his seat and you never know.. McKay could be upset in his riding if this keeps up.

Keep us up to date with what is happening on the ground in Nova Scotia. It sounds like people are not convinced on the deal MacDonald made.

[jdobbin]

The equalization briefing cancelled for the fourth time.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...PStory/National

The federal government has, for the fourth time, delayed a briefing it had offered to opposition MPs about a new financial deal on federal transfer payments to Nova Scotia.

A technical session with Finance Department officials that had been arranged for yesterday morning was cancelled shortly before it was to begin - and after 10 MPs and Senators had gathered in a meeting room to get details of a federal-provincial agreement regarding equalization and Nova Scotia's offshore resources.

"The translators came out of their booth and said that the meeting is cancelled and they were going home and that was the first that we knew that the meeting was cancelled," said Nova Scotia MP Bill Casey who was booted from the Conservative caucus this year for his refusal to support the federal budget because of changes it made to the transfers.

Liberal MP Scott Brison, who also arrived for the briefing, said the government has no respect for Nova Scotians. "It's appalling that the Minister of Finance would set up four briefings, would cancel all four briefings, and would offer no reasonable excuse."

It is getting a little ridiculous that the committee briefing is delayed time and time again.