The hypocrisy!

Again from the Bow-Wow Parliament on Wednesday:

MR. DENINE: Now, Mr. Speaker, during the debate this afternoon, each and every member, both on this side of the House and on that side of the House, has brought a lot of statistics to be aired out here today. I am wondering, and I am saying: Does the federal government not know we are concerned about the number of jobs here in Newfoundland and Labrador? Do you not know that we have made representation to them many, many times? Many letters have gone back and forth?

...

Mr. Speaker, in 1993 there were 10,250 federal jobs. In 2004, there were 6,790. Now, if you do the math on that – and I hope it is correct, someone gave me the information – over 3,200 jobs lost. I mean, that is significant. Think about it. That in itself is more than four or five industries here in Newfoundland and Labrador; more than four or five industries. So why do we not ask for equal treatment? This is not new to the federal government in power now today. This is not new to them. Our government has written every other leader of every party up there and asked them for all this. They know that this is an issue.

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Now, Prime Minister Harper said: we cannot just go willy-nilly and give out a job here, a job there, a job there. Look at a resource. Look at a whole picture. What can we put here in Newfoundland and Labrador? Well, Mr. Speaker, there is a heck of a lot you can put here in Newfoundland and Labrador. Look at our natural resources. Why not open a big, huge facility and move all the Department of Natural Resources here? Armed forces. We are the closest link to Europe, a very strategic location in the world, global issues, global geography. Why not move that down? We are in the offshore oil business, significantly, why not move something down here from that? The fisheries – my God, we are surrounded by water, at least the Island portion is.

Once upon a time, there was this guy named Danny Williams, who said that in dealings with Ottawa, the provincial government had to practice what it preached.

Where is the provincial department of Natural Resources located?

And where are the resources?

How concentrated is the provincial civil service, and where is it concentrated, and how do those patterns compare to how the federal civil service is spread out (or not) across Canada?

Discuss. Better yet: ask Clayton Forsey and Dave Denine.

And while you're asking, ask for a definition of "equal treatment". Given that Newfoundland and Labrador has the fourth-highest federal civil service presence, adjusted for population, of any province... does this mean, in the name of "the equal thing", that jobs have to be moved to federally under-staffed provinces like Alberta?