(Quebec) The Prime Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador, Andrew Furey, says he is open to negotiating with Quebec, as long as he is “shown the money”.
“Show us the money! » launched Mr. Furey in the press scrum Monday morning, upon his arrival at the 44th Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Prime Ministers which is being held at the Château Frontenac, in Quebec.
Last February, during an official visit to Saint-Jean, the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, said he understood “the frustration and anger” of Newfoundlanders regarding the Churchill Falls electricity supply contract.
The contract on this dam located in Labrador would have brought in more than 28 billion in Quebec since its signature in 1969, compared to only 2 billion in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Legault had raised the idea of offering financial compensation to the neighboring province before the end of the agreement in 2041, in order to encourage it to renew it.
Monday, when welcoming his counterparts to the Château Frontenac, Mr. Legault suggested that an agreement with Newfoundland and Labrador was critical for Quebec.
“Obviously, to achieve our carbon neutrality objectives, we will have to build more renewable energy. So, I’m counting a lot on Andrew Furey to “upgrade” Churchill Falls, then for Gull Island, we’re having excellent discussions and we’re very optimistic that we can move forward on that,” he said.
At a time when Hydro-Québec’s electricity surpluses are rapidly disappearing, Mr. Legault wishes to work with Mr. Furey to increase the capacity of Churchill Falls and to launch the Gull Island project in Labrador, including completion would produce 2,250 megawatts.
For his part, Mr. Furey invited Mr. Legault on Monday to propose a “good deal” if he wants the negotiations to progress. He recalled how “penalizing” the Churchill Falls contract had been for his fellow citizens.
Hydro-Québec pays a fixed rate for electricity produced by Churchill Falls, i.e. 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour, but has resold it on average at 8.2 cents per kilowatt hour in 2022, the state-owned company said earlier This year.
“We look forward to seeing what Mr. Legault and his team have to offer,” Andrew Furey said at the press scrum.
According to him, the apologies made by Mr. Legault in Saint-Jean last February are not enough; at most they “set the table” for future discussions, he said.
On February 24, Mr. Legault delivered an act of contrition to Newfoundlanders, something that had never been done by a Quebec premier before.
He acknowledged that the Churchill Falls contract had become “a really bad contract” for Newfoundlanders “over time.”
On Monday, the question of the shift towards a green economy was at the heart of discussions at the 44th Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers.
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the Island of Prince Edward, are part of the grouping.
