A former premier is in support of a referendum on equalization.

Opposition Leader Ches Crosbie raised the matter last week in the wake of a divisive federal election. Crosbie was echoing the concerns of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney who has proposed a similar referendum in his province.

Both Alberta and Saskatchewan shut out the Liberals in the federal election and some in Western Canada came down hard on Newfoundland and Labrador for returning six of seven Liberal MPs, arguing that the Liberal government has been bad for western Canada and the oil patch.

Former Tory Premier Brian Peckford was an architect of the Atlantic Accord and uttered the famous phrase “Some day the sun will shine and ‘have not’ will be no more”

He says the notion of equalization is to level the playing field and help the so-called “have not” provinces. He says it’s time to revisit the formula and have it “tweaked” and “changed”, especially as it relates to non-renewable resources.

Peckford says equalization is entrenched in the Constitution, so we’re going to have it, the question he says, is what will the nature of that equalization be?

That, he says, is what needs to be addressed.