For Immediate Release
22 February, 2023
The NL NDP is expressing concerns that the lack of transparency in Churchill Falls negotiations with Quebec risks the people of the province losing out, as has been seen in the past.
“Any new agreement must benefit the whole province. Government owes it to the people of the province to be transparent throughout any talks about Churchill Falls. We cannot be selling the shop, again, because the government of the day wants to look good,” said NDP MHA for Torngat Mountains Lela Evans. “We have lost so much due to short-sighted and secret negotiations about energy in this province, and those deals robbed the people who live here of the benefits we deserve from resources we own.”
NDP MHA for Labrador West, and NDP Caucus critic for Industry, Energy, and Technology, Jordan Brown, says any deal must ensure the province is not losing out on revenue or energy to the benefit of another province.
“90% of communities in Labrador get their energy from diesel generators while residents of Quebec are buying hydro-electric energy produced in Labrador at a significant discount. This can’t be our future,” said Brown. “We have excess demand for power in this province and we cannot lose energy or revenue to the benefit of another province when our needs locally aren’t being satisfied. We have lost out on industrial projects in Labrador because we didn’t have excess energy supply.”
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For further information, contact Eddy St. Coeur, Director of Communications, NDP Caucus at 729-2137 (o), or eddystcoeur@gov.nl.ca