Prime Minister Martin and Premier Hamm Celebrate Recent Offshore Agreement
The Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia today signed the arrangement that ensures the people of Nova Scotia will be the primary beneficiaries of offshore resource revenues. The Arrangement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Nova Scotia reflects the agreement in principle reached between both governments on Jan. 28.
February 14, 2005
Halifax, Nova Scotia
NEWS RELEASE
The Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia today signed the arrangement that ensures the people of Nova Scotia will be the primary beneficiaries of offshore resource revenues. The Arrangement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Nova Scotia reflects the agreement in principle reached between both governments on Jan. 28.
Prime Minister Paul Martin, Premier John Hamm, Geoff Regan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Cecil Clarke, Nova Scotia's Minister of Energy, participated in the signing ceremony for their respective governments.
"I would like to thank Premier Hamm for the admirable way in which he expressed and defended the position of Nova Scotia during our discussions," said Prime Minister Paul Martin. "This is a good example of how our governments worked together to find solutions to address the unique situation of Nova Scotia while being fair to all Canadians."
"This agreement is the culmination of Nova Scotia's long struggle to secure 100 per cent of our offshore revenues," said Premier Hamm. "The Prime Minister has honoured his commitment and now Nova Scotians are taking a vital step on the way to achieving financial self-sufficiency that will benefit all of Canada."
The arrangement uses an offset or rebate payment to allow Nova Scotia to have the full benefit of its offshore revenues. The offset payments will protect Nova Scotia from reductions in equalization payments that would otherwise have been caused by increasing offshore revenues.
"This is an important day for Nova Scotians," Minister Regan said. "Thanks to the commitment of both the Prime Minister and Premier, our province has been put on a much stronger financial footing."
"My department is continuing is efforts to encourage more petroleum exploration and development for the offshore," said Minister Clarke, "and we do so with the confidence that those future discoveries will provide lasting benefits for Nova Scotians."
The new agreement does not change any other federal-provincial financial arrangements.
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