By Greg Bennett

The Coast Guard

NovaNewsNow.com

When Gerald Keddy stood up in Parliament and voted yes on the budget Tuesday night, he was booed by opposition members.

A lot of people back home were booing too.

The South-Shore-St. Margarets MP was under huge pressures to vote no on the Conservative budget last week. Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald was one of the many voices urging Nova Scotia Conservative MPs to vote against their party on a budget that broke a landmark oil and gas deal with the province.

The Atlantic Accord, signed on Feb. 14, 2005 by the previous Liberal government gave Nova Scotia, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador, the right to offshore oil and gas royalties, protected from any future equalization arrangements.

Although this budget actually gives Nova Scotia about $95-million more this year due to an improved equalization formula, the loss of the Atlantic Accord could hurt the province in future years.

Keddy knew the stakes going in. Nova Scotia Tory MP Bill Casey voted no during an earlier reading of the budget and was subsequently booted from the Conservative caucus.

And if the local MP thought the cause was completely lost, he says he may have joined Casey in his “no” vote.

“The easiest thing I could have done was voted no,” he said. “I suppose I could have been a hero for a few days ...then what?”

Keddy believes the issue between the federal government and the province will be resolved to the Premier’s satisfaction in the coming weeks. If not, he reserves the right to walk a different line than his party.

“If I see it is not working …then that will be different,” he said.

He bristled at the suggestion of being a “yes” man, noting his previous stands against his party on the same-sex marriage issue.

“No one can say I don’t have the courage of my convictions,” he said.

Bill Smith, the federal Liberal Candidate for the South Shore, didn’t see things quite that way describing the local MP as blindly following suit with his government.

“Mr. Keddy is out of excuses. He has made zero progress within his party and Harper has made it clear that there will be no compromise on this issue. He had a chance to send a clear message by voting against this budget, but he failed to do so,” said Smith.

“By blatantly ignoring the clear wishes of the people he represents, Keddy has committed the ultimate betrayal. He will answer for that in the next election.”

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