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Opposition Leader Roger Grimes says he is pleased that an agreement on
offshore revenues has been reached and it appears that Prime Minister Paul
Martin has honoured his commitment of returning 100 per cent of our offshore
revenues to the province . "By having this new money, along with the new
federal-provincial health accord and the enhanced equalization program, the
province should not have to worry about facing a cash deficit over the next
8 years," said Mr. Grimes. "The provincial government should now balance
deficit reduction with the social needs of all Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians. This is not a time for rigid right- wing ideology. Premier
Williams must invest in people, education, health care, our civil service,
our culture, our way of life, as well as carefully manage the fiscal
circumstance which is significantly improved.
"Government needs to begin addressing many of the issues that have been
neglected over the past several months. At no time in recent history has the
federal government re-allocated so much money for this province. We need to
know what this means for the province, for our expenditures in the future
and the upcoming spring budget. Never before have we been in a position of
so much prosperity on one hand and such a dire forecast for our rural way of
life on the other.
"The people of the province were the ones who suffered the most under the
cuts and fee increases introduced by this government in the last budget. I
am hopeful that some of the negative decisions that were made by the
Williams administration last spring will be reversed, and the upcoming
budget will be much more friendly to the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador.
"While deficit reduction is important, it should not be the only spending
priority of this government. There are many areas that require investment,
and it is necessary to balance these needs to ensure that the proper and
appropriate level of attention is paid to each issue."
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