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The Canadian Press

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HALIFAX - Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil lashed out Thursday against Premier Rodney MacDonald, accusing him of fighting the federal Tories' battles instead of concentrating on his province.

McNeil said the premier has been obsessed with criticizing the federal Liberals over their environmental policy and backing Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who's expected to drop the writ for an election soon.

McNeil said the premier's actions come at the expense of his own electorate, which is waiting to hear about provincial strategies for coping with higher energy prices and helping the economy.

"It's trying to avoid the fact that he's doing very little for Nova Scotia," he said in an interview. "He's trying to deflect the fact that he has not been a proactive premier.

"He has been sitting there hoping that things would get better. That is not what Nova Scotians need."

McNeil said the prime minister deserves no support from Nova Scotia since his government has done little to benefit the province.

He cited the Atlantic accord and arts funding as two areas where Harper's policies have hurt Nova Scotia.

MacDonald defended his opposition to a carbon tax by accusing McNeil of attempting to distract people from the federal Liberals' stance.

"Mr. McNeil knows his federal leader has put him in a box," MacDonald said in a news release. "He doesn't know whether he should be supportive of his party or his province, so he sent out a release about me in an attempt to divert attention from the issue."