With the news that Newfoundland and Labrador will soon be moving away from equalization while Ontario will be moving toward a “have not” position, much has been said by government and the media alike on the subject.
Over the past week it seems, to this observer, as if the objective has not been to clearly discuss Ontario’s woes or even to congratulate Newfoundland and Labrador for its success. The objective of some seems instead to be an offensive against Newfoundland and Labrador and by turning what should have been a good news story into some sort of blight.
During this time Newfoundland and Labrador has been called the “poor cousin” of Confederation. It’s been pounded home time and time again how Newfoundland and Labrador has “never been off of equalization since it joined Canada”. It’s been called a place that, “wants to have its cake and eat it too”. It’s been said that “Newfoundland and Labrador is the place to go if you want to see your (Ontario) tax dollars at work” and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Premier was even asked by one political reporter if he was willing to give up some oil wealth to help Ontario out of its troubles.
None of this was done with tongue firmly planted in cheek. In fact, for the most part, the tone was far darker than anything so publicly said about Newfoundland and Labrador in recent memory.
Unfortunately, through it all, the true story of Newfoundland and Labrador’s existence and its first tentative steps toward so called “Have” status were, not even once, put before the people of Canada in an honest way.
The truth is: At the time Newfoundland and Labrador entered Canada in 1949 its total debt was about $100 million dollars. After 59 years of Confederation that debt mushroomed to over $11 billion dollars, the highest per capita debt in Canada. This is what happens when, as my dear Mother says, “you have to borrow money to pay the light bills and put food on the table”.
The truth is: For centuries the historic ocean trade routes between North America and Europe saw thousands of ships travel the eastern seaboard and fill the harbours of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the Maritime provinces. That isn’t the case any more. In an effort to centralize industry and grow the mega economies of Ontario & Quebec the Federal Government used the tax dollars of all Canadians, including those in Atlantic Canada, to construct the St. Lawrence Seaway, essentially killing commercial traffic flow into Atlantic ports.
The truth is: When Newfoundland and Labrador entered Canada, it boasted the world’s most prolific fishing resource off its shores. It was a fishery envied around the world. Upon entering Confederation this fishery fell under the control and management of Ottawa. By 1992 this fishery had been mismanaged into collapse and overnight more than 40,000 people lost their livelihoods. The impact to Newfoundland and Labrador’s small population was the equivalent to Ontario losing one million jobs in the blink of an eye.
The truth is: In the 1960s, Newfoundland and Labrador began development of the Upper Churchill Hydro Electric project. At the time it was the biggest project of its kind in North America. The Province of Quebec refused to let Newfoundland and Labrador wheel electricity across its borders at market rates and although the federal government had the authority to force the issue it did not. As a result Quebec now makes billions directly from the Newfoundland and Labrador resource and billions more through the industries it attracted. The owners of that power, Newfoundland and Labrador, can barely afford to keep the turbines spinning. This situation will continue to exist for another 33 years.
The truth is: Even though most of the oil and gas discovered off its shores would never have fallen inside Canadian jurisdiction had Newfoundland and Labrador not entered into Confederation in 1949, the federal government nevertheless has control of those resources, not the province. The way the federal government views the subject, in Canada oil on land belongs to the province, oil under the water belongs to Ottawa.
The truth is: When Newfoundland and Labrador petitioned the federal government for the right to force oil companies to develop major finds, rather than sitting on them as a “nest egg”, Ottawa refused to stand up for Newfoundland and Labrador. This is why today if a company in Alberta does not develop a discovery within 5 years they lose control of it to the Province. In Newfoundland and Labrador an oil company can sit on a discovery forever, never produce a drop, and prevent anyone else from accessing that find.
The truth is: Although the original 1985 Atlantic Accord supposedly ensured that Newfoundland and Labrador would receive the full benefits of oil resources, it wasn’t until an update to the contract in 2005 that the spirit of the deal was actually fulfilled and a fairer sharing of revenues was delivered.
The truth is: After disputing the value of the 1985 Accord for 20 years and after fiercely battling the Federal Liberal Government for months, Newfoundland and Labrador finally got the changes it wanted with the signing of the 2005 update to the Atlantic Accord contract. A little more than a year later the Federal Conservative Government, without consulting the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, unilaterally changed that contract denying Newfoundland and Labrador, according to independent economic estimates, of $10 billion dollars in potential revenue.
The truth is: The list of ways Newfoundland and Labrador has been impeded in improving its economic situation is a lengthy one, with many other examples similar to those identified here.
The truth is: In spite of those roadblocks Newfoundland and Labrador is finally beginning to see some small signs of progress. That progress is not due to the benevolence of the Canadian government. It is because the people who have clung to Newfoundland and Labrador’s rocky coastline for centuries simply refused to give up in the face of adversity.
The truth is: Today Quebec continues to make billions from the Upper Churchill power plant in Labrador. Ottawa still refuses to force oil companies to stop sitting on massive reserves. Sixteen years after the cod fishery collapsed the fish stocks still have not recovered, yet Ottawa continues to turn a blind eye to foreign fishing fleets raping the spawning grounds off Newfoundland and Labrador.
But…
The Truth is: In spite of it all, Newfoundland and Labrador is paying down its debt, to the tune of nearly 1.5 billion over the past couple of years.
Newfoundland and Labrador has finally recorded multi-year surpluses in its provincial budgets.
Newfoundland and Labrador has reached a point where it requires only $18 million dollars in federal equalization payments this year and will move off equalization completely next year.
The truth is: While the unemployment rate in Newfoundland and Labrador is still more than double the national average it is at least moving in the right direction and is currently at a 25-year low.
That’s the truth.
Now imagine for a moment what Newfoundland and Labrador might have accomplished if it had been given half a chance.
