O’kay here we go again. Newfoundland and Labrador is being dumped on by the rest of Canada, because it received some federal government support.
It surrounds the $130 million sum Ottawa is paying for violation of the NAFTA free trade agreement, after the Danny Williams’ government confiscated all the assets of Abitibi-Bowater following the company’s closure of its Grand Falls paper mill.
The Canadian Taxpayers’ Association is expressing its shock (and awe) over the Harper government’s decision to pay the arbitrated figure and not try to recoup the money from NL.
Then CBC interviewed a university professor (whose name escapes me) Thursday as he expressed his anger and contempt over the decision. His claim is economically NL has reaped far more benefits than its contributions to the Canadian federation.
Whoa. Let’s back up a little.
The British Government forced Canada and the Government of Newfoundland to unite in a federation in 1949 – essentially Britain wanted to wash its hands of its new world colony. And Ottawa wasn’t overly pleased.
The Canadian government then assumed it had control of NL’s lucrative fishery, which it set about to over regulate and ‘manipulate’ to eventually help in its death of the early nineties, with the northern cod moratorium. And the east coast fishery has not recovered yet, after 18 long years.
What about the mineral resources this province has coughed up to mainland mining companies – Wabush and Bell Island iron ore mines, St. Lawrence Fluorspar, other central Newfoundland mining operations and now Voisey’s Bay nickel in Labrador? How about the vast forests this province boasted, which have now been ravaged?
This university professor (who remains nameless) is even upset over the Canada-NL offshore oil agreement (Atlantic Accord), in which this province actually benefits. Again this province brings, as its contribution to the Canadian mosaic, wealth off our shoreline and people in central Canada are upset because our residents actually get a share of this wealth?
Don’t fret, the federal government is being handsomely compensated for putting its tentacles into the east coast offshore.
Where were these people and organizations when the federal government bailed out the automobile industry in Ontario, and fought the U.S. softwood industry’s tariffs impacting Quebec and British Columbia?
As far as benefits from Ottawa – the last check showed Ontarians and Quebecers were receiving employment insurance and child support cheques as well as federal economic bailouts!
Then there’s the fiasco of the Quebec-NL hydro development, and lopsided revenues from the Upper Churchill River power going outside this province. Quebec, and in turn the rest of Canada, is being rewarded exceptionally well.
It’s an old and tired reaction from upper Canada – if Newfoundland and Labrador receives some benefit from the Canadian federation then it has to be wrong, and mainland Canadians are paying through the nose.
Well, how many times has the federal government shafted this province, whenever what should be our ‘fair share’ is fleeced from us?
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