N.S. prepared to cut equalization deal alone: premier
Nova Scotia's premier says he is prepared to sign a side deal with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the Atlantic Accord, even if Newfoundland and Labrador does not.
"I will sign a deal that's a Nova Scotia deal," MacDonald said.
"I would suspect any deal that's signed with Nova Scotia, then Newfoundland would have to deal with the federal government on… because we have different issues, so there are different aspects to what each province wants."
While Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams has been sharply critical of the federal Conservatives, MacDonald has been conciliatory.
Williams had formed an alliance with former Nova Scotia premier John Hamm while renegotiating the Atlantic Accord— which protects provincial offshore oil and gas revenues from federal clawback— with former prime minister Paul Martin.
Williams's office declined comment Friday on MacDonald's remarks.
Earlier this week, Nova Scotia MP Bill Casey was ejected from the federal Conservative caucus after he voted against the Harper budget. Casey said the budget, which includes a new equalization formula, will undermine the gains of the Atlantic Accord.
Williams has unleashed a barrage of criticism against the federal Conservatives over the accord issue, and is actively encouraging voters to boycott Conservative candidates in the next federal election.
Poll shows Conservative support dropping
A poll by Halifax-based Corporate Research Associates found that voters— especially those in Newfoundland and Labrador— are heeding Williams. The poll, released Friday, found that satisfaction among Atlantic Canadian voters with the Conservatives had dropped to 36 per cent from 50 per cent just three months earlier.
Williams has frequently pointed to an analysis by Memorial University economist Wade Locke, who found the new formula will cost Newfoundland and Labrador's treasury about $1 billion in equalization. If Harper had stuck with a written 2006 election campaign pledge, Locke found, Newfoundland and Labrador would have received about $11 billion more.
Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn, who acts as Newfoundland and Labrador's federal cabinet representative, rejected Williams's criticism that the Harper government intends to hurt his province.
Hearn pointed out that the federal government has worked hard on issues like expediting the sale of Fishery Products International and responding to complaints about the summer employment program.
"I have no idea what it will take to satisfy Mr. Williams," Hearn told CBC News. Hearn pointed out that a litany of others, particularly oil companies, have had difficulties dealing with Williams's style.
"Certainly our government [doesn't] know if we can or not, because he doesn't talk to us [and] hasn't talked to us about this issue."
Hearn, who insisted that the federal government is offering a good deal on equalization to Newfoundland and Labrador, said he expects to see the federal Conservatives' numbers improve.