Jerome Kennedy (I)

From the proceedings of the Bow-Wow Parliament, March 26, 2009:

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, approximately $383 million of the projected deficit for this fiscal year is related to the impact of stock market declines on the value of our pension funds.

More than half of this deficit, $414 million, can be attributed to the unilateral action of the Harper government to eliminate benefits under the 1985 Atlantic Accord.

The federal government, Mr. Speaker, in its recent budget, imposed a massive cut on just one province, and that province is ours, contravening a long-standing agreement they had made with Newfoundland and Labrador. We as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are outraged that, after working so hard to achieve a greater measure of fairness and self-reliance in this federation, we are now being punished for our initiative.

Were it not for the actions of the federal government and pension fund value declines, we would be forecasting a surplus.