The Tories may have just torn up their electoral chances in the Maritimes thanks to the expulsion of veteran MP Bill Casey from their caucus and Harpo's betrayal of his government's promise to exclude oil and gas revenues from the formula for determining how much financial support "have-not" provinces – such as Nova Scotia and Newfoundland – get under the federal-provincial wealth-sharing program.
The Tories currently hold eight seats in the Maritimes and any hopes of increasing that in the next election seem doomed. It's even being suggested that the Harpo Conservatives could lose the seats they now hold.
The opposition has been ruthless in hammering Tory Maritime MPs including the already beleaguered Peter MacKay. Good on 'em. They made the deal, they broke it and they're going to pay for that.
3 comments:
Elizabeth May's chances against MacKay sure improved this week.
I think Harper realizes this an doesn't care.
Sacrifice a couple of boatmen for the francos in Quebec.
More uptick as they say!
It is time that the derogatory term "have not" coined by every government that has been in power since the time Newfoundland confederated with Canada, receive some attention and put those two words where they belong....in the toilet. My knowledge of Nova Scotia is limited but with regards Newfoundland, it is about time it was recognized that Newfoundland is a "have" province contributing more to the public coffers than it is receiving. It is a "grand laugh" when Newfoundland is being used as a scape goat for the rest of the country to "feel" good about itself. You can snicker all you want, but Newfoundlanders have one of the strongest work ethics of anyone province in this country. There are less that one million people living on the island...and that too you can snicker with comebacks about "have not"....there are six million Newfoundlanders working everywhere in this country and elsewhere. Newfoundlanders have strived to get somewhere for a long time. Churchill Falls, the Iron Ore Company in Labrador, the lower Churchill Falls project, the off-shore oil to name a few. They have every right to gain what is rightfully theirs. The Federal Government both Liberal and Conservative, allowed the Fishers to die while accepting huge licensing fees from foreign countries. The attitude being "aww just a bunch of uneducated people living on a rock, why should we care" attitude. Now there is an east swing round, and the Maritime Provinces and the one Atlantic Province want what is their equal share. They want the same kind of agreement that Alberta has but we now have a Prime Minister who forgets what province he hails from. If he loses this self-rightous, dictatorial place he finds himself in, he has no one to blame but himself and he should be austed as well as anyone else who feels they have the right to use such a self-righteous put down as "have not".
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