ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams says negotiations to give Nova Scotia more time to decide whether it should opt into a new equalization formula may be an attempt by Ottawa to pit the two provinces against each other.

Williams was responding today to a report that federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is offering Nova Scotia the option of reverting back to the Atlantic Accord if it decides the new formula isn't advantageous.

Newfoundland has not received a similar offer and Williams says that may indicate the prime minister is using Nova Scotia as "a pawn'' against his province.

Flaherty already agreed in March to give Nova Scotia a one-year grace period to make a decision over the Atlantic Accord, which protects it and Newfoundland from equalization clawbacks on offshore resource revenues.

That could now be extended to 2013 or later, according to a report by the Halifax Daily News.

The federal budget forces both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador to renounce the Atlantic Accord if they want bigger equalization payments.