N.S. said yes to less, Williams says of offshore pact

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has taken advantage of a politically frightened Nova Scotia premier with an offshore package that is no deal, Newfoundland and Labrador's premier says.

Danny Williams poked holes in what Harper and Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald described Wednesday as a "breakthrough" agreement that resolved more than two decades of squabbling over offshore energy resources.

"The bottom line is that Nova Scotians have basically said yes to less," Williams told reporters Wednesday, after Harper and MacDonald made a joint announcement in Ottawa.

"[The feds] haven't lived up to the promise. In fact, they've gotten Rodney MacDonald to take less, and, you know, Stephen Harper has a way of preying on the weak," Williams said.

"He sees the Nova Scotia government as a minority government and a government that's obviously in difficulty."

MacDonald and Williams have been uneasy allies on fighting Ottawa over the Conservative government's new equalization formula, which Williams has said violates written campaign pledges Harper made before the last federal election.

While sometimes working together, MacDonald has also flown solo on negotiating with Harper, only to criticize Harper later.

Under the terms announced Wednesday, Nova Scotia will choose next year whether to accept the new formula— which was laid out in this winter's federal budget— or stick with an older deal, signed in 2005.

The deal allows Nova Scotia to opt for a review, should the choice turn out to be unsatisfactory. Under those terms, Nova Scotia will receive a top-up until 2020.

However, Williams said the new deal is no deal at all, and that Nova Scotia will wind up with fewer overall revenues than what Harper had promised before the 2006 election, when he promised to continue to exclude natural resources revenue from the equalization formula.

Instead, the Conservatives adopted a formula that incorporates half of those revenues.

Williams and former Nova Scotia premier John Hamm collaborated on pressuring the former federal Liberal government to revise the Atlantic Accords, culminating in a 2005 deal that both premiers said was worth billions.

No friends

Williams said MacDonald would have been more successful if he had continued Hamm's negotiating strategy and worked with Newfoundland and Labrador.

Harper and MacDonald made the announcement a day after Williams led his Progressive Conservatives to a landslide election win in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Williams has won no friends in the federal Conservatives with his pledge to encourage voters to defeat federal Conservatives in the next election.

Hoarse from three weeks of campaigning, Williams didn't waste time in attacking Harper. "My voice is shot, but anyway, I guess Steve is going to rain on my parade," Williams said.

Williams accused Harper of "lashing" out at other provinces in the wake of Saskatchewan's decision to sue the federal government over the new equalization formula.

Williams, who accused Harper of pettiness, said he is ready for a new round of fighting over the issue.