Premier Paul Davis met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper Friday evening in Ottawa, but it didn’t do a whole lot of good.
Davis left the meeting frustrated, saying Harper cannot be trusted.
“They’re moving the goalposts,” he said. “They’ve moved them so far that the fund is going to be unreachable.”
By Davis’s account, the meeting was just a face-to-face version of the public back-and-forth that has been going on all week.
Davis said Harper and ACOA Minister Rob Moore stated their position, and Davis and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Keith Hutchings put forward the province’s argument.
Neither side budged.
Moore is also ostensibly the Newfoundland and Labrador representative in the federal cabinet, since the province has no Conservative MPs, but Davis didn’t think Moore is really doing his job on that front.
“You would think you’re there to represent Newfoundland and Labrador, and clearly he’s not doing that,” Davis said.
Davis said he was headed back to Newfoundland and Labrador, and would meet with his cabinet over the weekend to figure out what to do next.
More than a year ago, in the wake of the Canada-Europe free trade agreement announcement, then-premier Kathy Dunderdale announced she had negotiated a $400-million fund for fisheries transformation.
The $400-million fund was a condition of Newfoundland and Labrador dropping minimum processing requirements (MPRs) on fish bound for Europe as part of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The money was supposed to be cost-shared 70-30 between Ottawa and the province.
Consistently over the past year, federal representatives have said the fund is “up to $400 million” and this fall, cracks started to emerge in the deal.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement following the meeting with Davis, saying the money was always meant to be tied to “demonstrable losses” as a consequence of the province dropping MPRs.
“It was never intended to be a blank cheque,” the Prime Minister’s Office statement said.
Davis tells a very different story.
For starters, he said it won’t be possible to demonstrate losses as a result of dropping MPRs — at least not immediately — but the provincial government is concerned because eliminating the regulations would be in perpetuity.
“And once we give up MPRs as part of the CETA deal, that will be forever, and we wanted an insurance policy. We wanted an opportunity to build the fishery,” Davis said.
Earlier this week, Davis said that if the meeting with Harper didn’t go well, the provincial government would consider withdrawing its support for the Canada-Europe free trade deal.
Since then, several industry groups have expressed concern, saying the deal is bigger than just the fishery, and it’s bigger than the $400-million fund.
“It is an agreement that will provide benefits and economic growth and jobs — good-paying jobs for Newfoundland and Labrador — for decades to come,” said Richard Alexander, executive director with the NL Employers’ Council. “We’d hate to see anything risk us withdrawing from CETA.”
Other industry groups, including the Association of Seafood Producers, have also voiced concern.
Davis said CETA has benefits for the province beyond just the fishery, so the government has to think hard before withdrawing support.
At the same time, though, he said the signatories should be wary of Harper.
“He can’t be trusted,” Davis said. “If I was another jurisdiction — another province or one of the 28 EU countries — they should be clearly looking at what they have in place, and what agreement they have there, because ours is clear.”
Harper-Davis CETA meeting didn’t go well - Local - The Telegram
Davis left the meeting frustrated, saying Harper cannot be trusted.
“They’re moving the goalposts,” he said. “They’ve moved them so far that the fund is going to be unreachable.”
By Davis’s account, the meeting was just a face-to-face version of the public back-and-forth that has been going on all week.
Davis said Harper and ACOA Minister Rob Moore stated their position, and Davis and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Keith Hutchings put forward the province’s argument.
Neither side budged.
Moore is also ostensibly the Newfoundland and Labrador representative in the federal cabinet, since the province has no Conservative MPs, but Davis didn’t think Moore is really doing his job on that front.
“You would think you’re there to represent Newfoundland and Labrador, and clearly he’s not doing that,” Davis said.
Davis said he was headed back to Newfoundland and Labrador, and would meet with his cabinet over the weekend to figure out what to do next.
More than a year ago, in the wake of the Canada-Europe free trade agreement announcement, then-premier Kathy Dunderdale announced she had negotiated a $400-million fund for fisheries transformation.
The $400-million fund was a condition of Newfoundland and Labrador dropping minimum processing requirements (MPRs) on fish bound for Europe as part of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The money was supposed to be cost-shared 70-30 between Ottawa and the province.
Consistently over the past year, federal representatives have said the fund is “up to $400 million” and this fall, cracks started to emerge in the deal.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement following the meeting with Davis, saying the money was always meant to be tied to “demonstrable losses” as a consequence of the province dropping MPRs.
“It was never intended to be a blank cheque,” the Prime Minister’s Office statement said.
Davis tells a very different story.
For starters, he said it won’t be possible to demonstrate losses as a result of dropping MPRs — at least not immediately — but the provincial government is concerned because eliminating the regulations would be in perpetuity.
“And once we give up MPRs as part of the CETA deal, that will be forever, and we wanted an insurance policy. We wanted an opportunity to build the fishery,” Davis said.
Earlier this week, Davis said that if the meeting with Harper didn’t go well, the provincial government would consider withdrawing its support for the Canada-Europe free trade deal.
Since then, several industry groups have expressed concern, saying the deal is bigger than just the fishery, and it’s bigger than the $400-million fund.
“It is an agreement that will provide benefits and economic growth and jobs — good-paying jobs for Newfoundland and Labrador — for decades to come,” said Richard Alexander, executive director with the NL Employers’ Council. “We’d hate to see anything risk us withdrawing from CETA.”
Other industry groups, including the Association of Seafood Producers, have also voiced concern.
Davis said CETA has benefits for the province beyond just the fishery, so the government has to think hard before withdrawing support.
At the same time, though, he said the signatories should be wary of Harper.
“He can’t be trusted,” Davis said. “If I was another jurisdiction — another province or one of the 28 EU countries — they should be clearly looking at what they have in place, and what agreement they have there, because ours is clear.”
Harper-Davis CETA meeting didn’t go well - Local - The Telegram
