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Spirit and intent of Accord "shafted" by Premier's own failures
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Yvonne Jones, MHA for the District of Cartwright-L=Anse au Clair and Opposition Critic for Natural Resources, says that the Williams= government has little room to criticise the federal government when it has in effect compromised the spirit and intent of the Atlantic Accord with its failure to achieve a deal on Hebron-Ben Nevis. ASince the premier scuttled talks on Hebron-Ben Nevis with his bully and combative approach, we are now effectively a full year behind in receiving the benefits that would have accrued with this deal,@ says Jones. AThe Atlantic Accord provided a ten year time span for payments to help offset any loss in equalization revenue to the province. We are now half-way through the end of that negotiated deal and with an industry in decline and the investment climate perceived as hostile, we have already lost a year in which to play catch-up under this arrangement. AFurthermore, because of the downward spiral in the industry spurred by the premier=s failure to properly negotiate a firm deal, the flow of people out of the province will continue to grow even more alarmingly, with the end result that we now will receive less and less in transfer payments because of the reduced population base. AThis premier has to realize that honouring the spirit and intent of the Atlantic Accord is just as much his responsibility as it is the federal government=s. By setting the province=s offshore industry back 25 years, as one industry executive has charged, the premier has in effect heaped more damage on our provincial treasury and our economy and lost the confidence of our people with their move west-ward. The federal government has treated our province badly, but the premier cannot point a finger of blame without four other fingers pointing back at his own lack of leadership skills to negotiate a deal to salvage the industry and its associated job losses. It=s a two-way street of blame and responsibility. AIt is time to get this industry back on track with at least kick-starting the negotiation process. The current and future success of our province is very dependent on what is happening in the here and now. Wrapping himself in the flag of nationalism, raising the rhetoric and trying to be a hero is admirable, but the premier has to realize that this approach has produced zero. The risks and the costs of his poor judgement and inaction are simply too high for Newfoundland and Labrador and its people. @
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