The Honourable Pat Mella, PEI's Provincial Treasurer, was pleased to welcome her Atlantic counterparts to Charlottetown to discuss a broad range of issues of concern to the region. The Ministers in attendance included the Honourable Neil LeBlanc from Nova Scotia, the Honourable Lloyd Matthews from Newfoundland and Labrador and the Honourable Norman Betts, from New Brunswick.

The Finance Ministers' meeting provided an opportunity for Ministers to prepare a joint report to Atlantic Premiers. Included in the discussions were reports on opportunities for regional cooperation on key finance issues, strategies to highlight the critical role of federal transfers to the region, the importance of having regular Atlantic Finance Ministers meetings, and provided an opportunity to discuss outstanding issues concerning the Shareholders Agreement of the Atlantic Lotteries Corporation.

Among the key Finance issues discussed were the CHST, Equalization and Income Taxes.

Ministers resolved to convey a joint message to Paul Martin prior to the upcoming federal Budget and re-iterated the need to work together cooperatively as a region to foster Atlantic Canada's interests.

The key message to be conveyed to the federal Minister was that, "The Atlantic provinces endorse the need for the Federal Minister to fully restore the CHST funding to the 1994-95 levels while also acknowledging the critical importance of the Equalization program to the region."

"We encourage the federal Minister to commit to a strong Equalization program which fulfils the constitutional requirement of ensuring comparable levels of service at comparable levels of taxation." Ministers expressed the view that the equalization program is subject to unacceptable constraints, particularly the ceiling on the program. "While we support the desire of provinces to see full restoration of the CHST program, this must be balanced with a commitment to strengthen the Equalization program", they said.

Ministers stated that, "It is critically important that we encourage the federal government to undertake policies that are not only in the interests of improving national economic performance, but also mindful of the interests of Atlantic Canada."

Ministers agreed that "Minister Martin should be encouraged to reduce federal income taxes as part of a balanced approach consisting of tax reductions, CHST improvements, Equalization enhancement and infrastructure support."

Ministers said that the Charlottetown meeting was of significant importance in setting a course for the region to work together in moving forward on these key fiscal issues.