Apples to Peanuts - Equalization Share (Canada - Let's build it on the Backs of the Little Guys with no representation!)
My household and I are shocked and completely disappointed by Mr. Harper's betrayal and manipulation of his word regarding equalisation and the Atlantic Accord. Note also that I was born and raised in Ontario and at least I have been able to educate my friends and family regarding the unfairness to which NL is continuously subjected. I would hope that our representatives, as few as they are, could do the same in the House of Commons. I have lived around the world and in many provinces in Canada, including 4.5 yrs in Quebec. Strangely enough, Quebec is the province with which NL has the closest cultural comparison but they have 75 MP's to our seven, so we neither get listened to nor do we get our fair share from the federation.
Bullying! 58 years of bullying! The problem: the Big Guys (Ontario, Quebec & now too Alberta) stomping the Little Guys (Atlantic Provinces, Saskatchewan and the 3 Territories) is happening in our country. The Little Guy provinces all put together cannot receive fair representation from Canada. Even if we could convince Manitoba, BC, Alberta and for that matter all of the Maritime provinces to join NL, we still couldn't match Ontario's domination and control of the federation in a purely mathematical formula of MP's! The "population" based powers and their "national" newspapers, supported by their 10's of millions of voters, wonder why the tiny hamlets (aka little provinces) are in an uproar about the broken promises and unfair measuring of everything per capita. Of course it is unfair! The new formula even removes offsets designed for years to take this factor into consideration. We need practically, just as many miles of highways and maintenance. This is just one reason why it isn't fair...
Ontario with it's nearly $6k per capita times its population base of about 10 million people surely maintains a nicer more functional infrastructure than that of NL at approx $7k per capita times its population of 500 thousand. I mean come on, compare apples to apples, or even apples to oranges but not apples to peanuts. The resource and agricultural industries are consistently stripped for their value from tiny unrepresented provinces with 4-14 MP's and are keeping central (and the rest of) Canada in very good shape as they process and "add value" to our provinces' resources' at the expense of those of us who are considered underpopulated "complainers".
Alberta (as I understand it) has received 20 plus years of benefit their non-renewable resources, yet now that NL and NS are finally in a place to receive similar fair treatment, the rules are changed. Funny, the Prime Minister comes from Alberta. Are the sands nearly tapped? Is AB running at the end of its non-renewable resource? Is that why they seem willing to step gracefully away from the trough into an equalisation formula designed especially for them!? All this just as NL finally gets a chance to earn a fair income from a different resource to make up for years of direct federally supported over-fishing, forestry, and the ongoing unfair pillaging of NL's Lower Churchill power facility by Quebec. How vile.
Mr. Manning, nay, Mr. Harper, when does it stop? Moreover, when do you keep your word and when does Canada keep her word to Newfoundland & Labrador, and for that matter the other under-represented provinces of the federation? Remember also, the Marine Atlantic ferry is our Trans Canada Highway, it is written in law. The price for a trip across the channel should match the equivalent in kilometres/litre of regular unleaded gasoline, not the cost of a round trip airplane ticket to Toronto! Our resources, geography, commitment to freedom and fairness are the primary reasons why Newfoundland was seduced by Canada. Stop sharing our peanuts with everybody, if you're not willing to pay fairly for them...
Perhaps we need to re-strike the Fair Deal for Newfoundland website, so I have also cc'd Kevin McCann and many NL MHA's. Maybe this time around the NL Government will hire and pay him for his communication talents.
Finally, we "get it", so tell Flaherty to stop being so incredulous and condescending. Every time he talks he insults the Little Guys like the self-absorbed, self-indulgent writers and editors of the Globe & Mail. National news me arse...
My thoughts for now,
Fred Harris CBS, NL
Bullying! 58 years of bullying! The problem: the Big Guys (Ontario, Quebec & now too Alberta) stomping the Little Guys (Atlantic Provinces, Saskatchewan and the 3 Territories) is happening in our country. The Little Guy provinces all put together cannot receive fair representation from Canada. Even if we could convince Manitoba, BC, Alberta and for that matter all of the Maritime provinces to join NL, we still couldn't match Ontario's domination and control of the federation in a purely mathematical formula of MP's! The "population" based powers and their "national" newspapers, supported by their 10's of millions of voters, wonder why the tiny hamlets (aka little provinces) are in an uproar about the broken promises and unfair measuring of everything per capita. Of course it is unfair! The new formula even removes offsets designed for years to take this factor into consideration. We need practically, just as many miles of highways and maintenance. This is just one reason why it isn't fair...
Ontario with it's nearly $6k per capita times its population base of about 10 million people surely maintains a nicer more functional infrastructure than that of NL at approx $7k per capita times its population of 500 thousand. I mean come on, compare apples to apples, or even apples to oranges but not apples to peanuts. The resource and agricultural industries are consistently stripped for their value from tiny unrepresented provinces with 4-14 MP's and are keeping central (and the rest of) Canada in very good shape as they process and "add value" to our provinces' resources' at the expense of those of us who are considered underpopulated "complainers".
Alberta (as I understand it) has received 20 plus years of benefit their non-renewable resources, yet now that NL and NS are finally in a place to receive similar fair treatment, the rules are changed. Funny, the Prime Minister comes from Alberta. Are the sands nearly tapped? Is AB running at the end of its non-renewable resource? Is that why they seem willing to step gracefully away from the trough into an equalisation formula designed especially for them!? All this just as NL finally gets a chance to earn a fair income from a different resource to make up for years of direct federally supported over-fishing, forestry, and the ongoing unfair pillaging of NL's Lower Churchill power facility by Quebec. How vile.
Mr. Manning, nay, Mr. Harper, when does it stop? Moreover, when do you keep your word and when does Canada keep her word to Newfoundland & Labrador, and for that matter the other under-represented provinces of the federation? Remember also, the Marine Atlantic ferry is our Trans Canada Highway, it is written in law. The price for a trip across the channel should match the equivalent in kilometres/litre of regular unleaded gasoline, not the cost of a round trip airplane ticket to Toronto! Our resources, geography, commitment to freedom and fairness are the primary reasons why Newfoundland was seduced by Canada. Stop sharing our peanuts with everybody, if you're not willing to pay fairly for them...
Perhaps we need to re-strike the Fair Deal for Newfoundland website, so I have also cc'd Kevin McCann and many NL MHA's. Maybe this time around the NL Government will hire and pay him for his communication talents.
Finally, we "get it", so tell Flaherty to stop being so incredulous and condescending. Every time he talks he insults the Little Guys like the self-absorbed, self-indulgent writers and editors of the Globe & Mail. National news me arse...
My thoughts for now,
Fred Harris CBS, NL
posted by Fred Harris | 1:34 AM
2 Comments:
Well put.
Where are the minority rights for teh minority provinces?
Democratic Discrimination against the minority population provinces by the national parties in their never ending electioneering and vote buying from the PM's office.
There is only one way we will ever get our voice heard on the national stae and that is with our own federal party that doesn't have to toe the national party line of doing what's in the best interest of the majority of the population (Read On/Qu where 60% of the pop lives on 2% of the canadian land mass) so their national party can win the next election.
It's time for a real change and not just a color change.
www.nlfirst.ca 709-722-NLFP, face book nlfirst, Blogspot nlfirst.
We can scream and shout all we want as individuals and nothing will change but as part of a united political party that only has to do what's in NL's best interest first we can affect change or at the very least get our issues and concerns addressed.
Just some spam for you.
Efford, Manning, Liberal, or Conservative whatever it doesn't matter what national party you elect MP's to they are all the same when you belong to a minority prov in this phoney federation. All of the national parties have to work within the same tyranny of the majority system where in order to win power you need to be on the good side of the majority and the majority in this confederation live in Ontario and Quebec. 66% to be exact and further to that some 50%of the canadian population live in the urban cities none of which count from our province. You must be delusional if you think any national party will go to bat for 1.5% of the population and that includes the MP's you elect to those same national parties. Sure we don't even comprise the margin of error in the polls which is usually 3%. It isn't the national parties we need to change as we have see nit is the political system of Democratic Discrimination against the minority provinces by all of the national parties in favor of vote buying in the majority provinces. You could be playing this game till the cows come home of electing one or the other national proxy parties for ON/QU and expecting a different result and never change a thing. These are all symptoms the real root cause of our place in confederation is our lack of equality. If you really want to send a message to the confederation and have your elected MP's stand up for you tell them to cross the floor and stand up as Newfoundland and Labrador First MP's. As for defeating the budget it can only be done with the Liberals or in the Senate that is assuming Iggy doesn't tell the Liberal senators to pass it Like DIon did. So much for sober second thought. The senate is nothing but an extension of the systemically flawed HOC Per Capita Colonialism. Let your Newfoundland and Labrador MP, Senator or cabinet representative know what you think. MP HOC MacKay.P@parl.gc.ca, Andrews.S@parl.gc.ca, Byrne.G@parl.gc.ca, Coady.S@parl.gc.ca, Foote.J@parl.gc.ca, Harris.J@parl.gc.ca, Russell.T@parl.gc.ca, Simms.S@parl.gc.ca Senators bakerg@sen.parl.gc.ca, cochre@sen.parl.gc.ca, cookj@sen.parl.gc.ca, fureyg@sen.parl.gc.ca, rompkw@sen.parl.gc.ca, ManningF@sen.parl.gc.ca
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