Liberal opposition takes Conservative government to task for broken promises to provinces

Ottawa - Liberal Opposition Leader Stéphane Dion today condemned Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s broken promises to the provinces on federal-provincial transfers. Mr. Dion spoke in support of a motion introduced by Liberal Atlantic Caucus Chair Todd Russell, which took the Harper Conservative government to task for failing to live up to verbal and written commitments made to Premiers by the Prime Minister during the last election campaign regarding the Equalization Program and the Atlantic Accords.

“The Prime Minister himself stated in this House on October 26, 2004, that when it comes to the Atlantic Accords there is ‘a moral obligation to keep these promises: no caps, no clawbacks, no limitations, no conditions, no big exceptions in the fine print’,” said Mr. Dion.

“Yet, Budget 2007 had just that. A cap. Fine print. Limitations. Conditions. A broken promise to Atlantic Canadians.”

Mr. Dion noted that similarly explicit promises were made to the province of Saskatchewan, with the Conservative platform in the last election stating that non-renewable resource revenues would be excluded from the Equalization formula. However, Budget 2007 broke that promise as well.

“Those who voted for the Conservatives in Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada put their trust in the commitments made by Mr. Harper. That trust was broken,” he said.

Broken promises on Equalization and the Atlantic Accords are part of a larger problem of faltering federal-provincial relations and a lack of consultation on the part of the Harper Conservative government, Mr. Dion said. He cited the cancellation of First Ministers’ Meetings, and the government’s unilateral and piecemeal Senate reform as evidence of this theme.

Mr. Dion also noted that the Conservatives’ string of broken promises is eroding the trust of the provinces and Canadians, preventing this government from achieving progress.

“By breaking his commitment not to tax income trusts, this Prime Minister broke the trust of Canadians and took away $25 billion in hard-earned savings. Broken promises, lack of consultation, lack of trust. This is no way to run a federation. This is no way to run a country,” said Mr. Dion.

“You simply cannot accomplish your goals if you do not have trust among those you are working with. True leadership requires honesty and integrity. This is what the Liberal Party is offering to Canadians.”