Mr. Speaker, our commitment to fostering economic growth and job creation will always be a priority. Under this government the province has led the country in GDP and employment growth several times. The number of people employed has grown to a record high and is forecast to rise to even higher. We have cut sales tax, incomes taxes and the payroll tax to propel growth. Confidence in our economy and our future has seen the value of retail trade increase by almost 40 percent over the last five years. And we have an aggressive economic plan for the future, the Renewal Strategy for Jobs and Growth. We are funding several initiatives today in support of this plan.

Renewal Strategy for Jobs and Growth

The Renewal Strategy for Jobs and Growth outlines an agenda of over 130 action items, two thirds focussed on rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Of the new jobs created since 1996, 63 percent have been outside the greater St. John�s area. This government is creating economic opportunities and growth in rural areas. The Department of Industry, Trade and Rural Development, created last year to lead implementation of the Strategy, is allocated $2.8 million to act on specific Jobs and Growth priorities.

New International Business Attraction Initiative

As well as support for the Strategic Partnership Initiative launched in January bringing together business, labour and government, this funding will allow us to put in place a new international business attraction initiative. This new initiative will be designed to emulate the success achieved by Network Newfoundland and Labrador in attracting new jobs to the province. Details of the initiative will be announced early in the new fiscal year.

A new Small Business Advisory Council also will be established in 2002 to provide government with advice on appropriate new measures to continue to grow this important sector of our economy. To encourage new small business start ups and expansions in all areas of the province, funding of $2.6 million is renewed for the Strategic Enterprise Development Fund.

Sectoral Initiatives

Government continues to fund a wide range of programs across many economic sectors that contribute to the success these industries are enjoying. Through sustained support for these programs we assist in creating the positive business and investment climate needed for sustainable long term growth. Most often these programs translate into a host of many small successes that build incrementally on the entrepreneurial spirit so evident all over the province. Although fiscal times are more constrained now, none of these programs are being cut back or eliminated. Some will see enhancements.

An example is our silviculture program, a partnership between government and the pulp and paper companies. During the Jobs and Growth consultations the importance of investing in silviculture was highlighted. This year we will be expanding our capacity to produce tree seedlings by almost 30 percent, from 7 million to 9 million seedlings a year.

We also cooperate with the industry to protect our timber resource from insect infestations. This year the insect spray program will see a 50 percent increase in the number of hectares sprayed over last year. An additional $2 million has been allocated to undertake this, a 30 percent increase over the existing budget. These measures will contribute greatly to the long term sustainability of our forests and our forest products industry.

As part of forest management, government facilitates controlled access to forest resources through its resource roads program. This program also assists our agricultural sector. Both these sectors will benefit from a $600,000 increase this budget is providing for resource roads. This new funding brings the resource roads budget to $3 million, an increase of 50 percent in two years.

Funding is provided for a new initiative this year that will see a more proactive approach by the province to reduce foreign overfishing. We will work with all industry stakeholders to ensure adherence to strict conservation practices by foreign countries.

Tourism Marketing

One of the ways we support the tourism industry is through tourism marketing. Our campaigns have won a dozen international awards in recent years. Promotion is key to reaching our core markets and capitalizing on the successes we have enjoyed in recent years. This year we are increasing our funding for marketing by 25 percent. This extra $1 million will be used to lever additional promotional value through the Canadian Tourism Commission and other partners. The marketing budget will be further supplemented by one time funding of $1.3 million from a federal-provincial agreement, bringing the total marketing budget before leveraging opportunities to $6.2 million. Early indications are already pointing to a good year for tourism in 2002.

Natural Heritage Stewardship

Our economy has evolved into an interesting blend of technology and natural resource based industries. For the people of the province, our natural environment is both a place of work and of play. We must strike the right balance in our natural heritage stewardship between economic development and environmental protection. We are taking a number of steps to ensure we get that balance right.

We are building up our own capacity within government by enhancing the Science Division to complement the work of the existing divisions of Inland Fish and Wildlife, as well as Parks and Natural Areas. This initiative will foster best practices in environmental science, as well as enhance the position of this province as a leader in resource management and sustainable development.

Government is also planning to establish with Memorial University an Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystems Science. The Institute will allow the university and its academic community to work along with government in enhancing our expertise in the province on resource conservation issues.

In addition, a Natural Heritage Stewardship Secretariat is being created to facilitate raising funds from sources outside the province to further enhance our research capabilities. To support these three initiatives, $1.8 million in new funding is allocated this year, $2.8 million on an annualized basis.

Commitment to Lower Taxes

Mr. Speaker, to foster a positive climate for business investment, this government has taken a number of important initiatives to reduce taxes. In 1997 we implemented the largest tax cut in the history of the province when we converted the retail sales tax to the Harmonized Sales Tax. This eliminated sales tax on business inputs and lowered the tax rate on consumer purchases from 12 percent to 8 percent. In the five years since we have seen our retail trade grow by record numbers and our economy become one of the leaders in the country.

Over four previous budgets, better fiscal times allowed us to reduce the payroll tax by changing the threshold from $100,000 to $500,000. This removed over 2,000 businesses from the tax roll and reduced the tax for thousands of others, in the process eliminating the tax for virtually the entire small business sector. Employment has grown strongly over this period and now has reached a record level, and should go higher. Further payroll tax reductions, and the eventual elimination of the tax, are one of our priorities for the future.

We implemented the first two years of a three year plan that reduced personal income tax for all taxpayers. The new income tax system which changed the tax calculation has made it difficult for some people to compare. We modelled a large number of different scenarios for taxpayers and in all cases, given the same amount of income, real reductions in provincial personal income tax were delivered. While we remain committed to tax reductions, because of our higher deficit we have to defer further cuts or threshold increases until our fiscal circumstances improve.

Our record on taxation also includes introducing the Direct Equity Tax Credit and the Film Tax Credit. In the past year, we announced Double EDGE, which reduces income taxes further for new businesses, with more attractive reductions for businesses in rural areas. As well, we implemented several tax credits supporting social programs, like the Seniors Benefit and the Newfoundland and Labrador Child Benefit.

Living Up to the Atlantic Accord

Mr. Speaker, in the budget last year, we stated that this province considers achieving a better deal on federal-provincial revenue sharing from natural resource projects a priority. It is still a priority. We do not accept that the revenue sharing we now have fulfills the "principal beneficiary" status the federal government stated we would achieve under the Atlantic Accord. As offshore oil production increases, a greater and greater injustice will be done to this province if the revenue sharing arrangement prevents us from capitalizing on the fiscal benefits of these developments. This province should be the principal beneficiary, as agreed to, and achieving this should be facilitated by the federal government.

We need greater financial resources to grow our economy. A province like ours must be able to reap the benefits from our principal asset, our natural resource endowment. The federal government is instead taking our place. We are not asking for anything unreasonable. After we close some of the gaps with the rest of the country, the federal government can increase its share. The people of the province are united in calling on the federal government to live up to the terms of the Atlantic Accord, and see us become the true principal beneficiaries.