William D. Casey, M.P.

Cumberland Colchester Musquodoboit Valley
646S Centre Block

House of Commons

Ottawa, ON  K1A 0A6

House of Commons

Chambre des communes

Canada

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    Fourth Atlantic Accords briefing cancelled

Finance Canada shows disrespect to Nova Scotia MPs and Senators

November 20, 2007

Ottawa –  Finance Canada showed disrespect to Members of Parliament and Senators from Nova Scotia again this morning by cancelling at the last minute a fourth briefing on the Second Budget Implementation Act, which was expected to include information on the new Atlantic Accords deal, says Bill Casey, M.P. 

            “Many Members and Senators from Nova Scotia had arrived early for this important briefing and had expected it to start at 10:30am, but an email was sent out by the Finance Minister at 10:16am cancelling this meeting. Cancelling this meeting while Senators and MPs were already in the room, is an unprofessional and inconsistent approach to dealing with this issue and just reinforces the chaos on this file,” said the Member of Parliament.

            Senators and Members had also been informed of the cancellation by the translators.

            The M.P. noted as well that when the Parliamentary Secretary and other Finance Canada officials eventually did show up, they refused to answer questions, but admitted that there were technical problems with the drafting of this legislation. A briefing is expected after corrections are made and the budget bill is tabled, however no date or time was given.

            Following the cancellation this morning, Casey will continue to ask questions and seek out answers as to what the technical problems were with this legislation.

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