New Tory recruits dance around equalization mess
Candidates representing the Conservatives in two St. John's-area ridings admit the prime minister did not necessarily live up to written pledges on equalization.
Stephen Harper is the target of Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams's "anything but Conservative" campaign, over the federal Conservatives' change in policy on excluding non-renewable energy from the equalization formula.
Launching their campaigns on Monday, two new Conservative recruits veered from the party line on the issue.
"Stephen Harper tried to keep his equalization promise," said Craig Westcott, an outspoken journalist and commentator who stunned many — including Conservatives — by running in St. John's East.
Westcott said Harper could not deliver what he promised because too many provinces opposed it.
As well, Westcott said now that Newfoundland and Labrador is posting record surpluses, it does not matter what Harper did or did not do.
"The surplus is over a billion dollars. That argument is moot," Westcott said.
"It's time to move on and let's participate and rejoin the rest of the country in this great federation," said Westcott, adding, "He tried his best like a lot of people do and no matter how hard you try in life, you can't always get what you want."
Meanwhile, Merv Wiseman, running for the Conservatives in St. John's South-Mount Pearl, tried his best to avoid the question while announcing his campaign Monday afternoon.
The federal Tories maintain that Harper kept his promises, and that the federal Conservatives have protected the Atlantic Accord, the pact that recognizes Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia as the principal beneficiaries of their offshore resources.
The federal Conservatives have denounced Williams and the ABC campaign as ungrounded.
Wiseman, though, expressed opinions that are not in line with what the Conservatives have said since a furor erupted in 2006.
"I'm really not going to get into the details of that other than to say and I think that the message is loud and clear that I see arguments on both sides that are quite legitimate," Wiseman said.