Four Members of Parliament for Prince Edward Island. Phew. Time to get down to Atlantic Canada, meet the Premiers, speak at Rotary Clubs and help build our membership in Atlantic Canada. We wanted CFIB member Mandates landing on all their desks.
I called Premier Campbell of PEI for a meeting, and to my great surprise, he answered the phone. Not only did he want to see me but suggested I come for lunch with his whole cabinet. It was fresh lobster caught that very day and an experience I have never forgotten.
That was May 1974, and a month later, Al Rioux, a long time member from Frederick, was approved by the membership at the Annual Meeting as a new member of our Board of Governors. Al was an Acadian, a building contractor, and the oldest of 22 children. He helped me understand the bilingual history of New Brunswick. It was Al who was the building supervisor when we built our facility at 4141 Yonge Street, North York. It came in on time and under budget
Al was active in public policy as the New Brunswick Vice-President of the Atlantic Economic Council. He took me to meet Premier Hatfield. As we entered his office, he said he had a last minute problem he had to deal with, and could we come over to his house for a drink at 5:30 that afternoon. I was blown away by the informality and friendship of everyone I met in Atlantic Canada. (see photo)
One of my first surprises in New Brunswick was to discover there was no public service as we know it in Quebec or Ontario. Instead, there was one person with a secretary representing each department with the whole public service on one floor of a building. When they wanted to modify their labour laws, an authority working for the B.C. government would help; or if they wished to modify provincial tax legislation, someone in the federal Finance Department was designated to assist.
The system of Equalization Payments worked pretty well for Ontario in those days. Money from B.C., Alberta, and Ontario was sent to Atlantic Canada (and other provinces) and they used the money to buy goods and services from Ontario. That did not seem very sustainable. It wasn’t. When free trade became the reality, Atlantic Canada started to buy goods and services from places like North Carolina.
But without these transfers, there would be massive de-population of the region and their economies would go down the tubes. After meeting with so many leaders in all four in Atlantic Canada, I became a firm believer in the Equalization Payments System which is a fundamental component of our Constitution.
My passion for Canada has nothing to with geography or history, or our system of government. It is the people I have met. Take a holiday on Vancouver Island, or Quebec City, or St John, Newfoundland, or PEI, and talk to the people. They reflect the character of our nation.