N.L. politicians to vote on Quebec energy proposal that seeks to end provincial dispute

Politicians in Newfoundland and Labrador are expected to vote today on whether they support a new 50-year agreement to share energy from Labrador with Hydro-Québec.

Premier Tony Wakeham opened the legislature this week for a four-day debate about the framework agreement, which includes proposals for more than $50-billion worth of new energy infrastructure along the Churchill River.

The debate began with a bombshell announcement from Labrador member Keith Russell, who said he was leaving the governing Progressive Conservatives to sit as an Independent.

If all of the Tories stand up in favour of the deal, but none of the Liberals, NDP or Independents do, the resolution to endorse the draft deal could pass by a single vote.

Wakeham told reporters he would still proceed with the agreement in full confidence, even in the event of a razor-thin victory.

Newfoundland and Labrador carries a history of hydroelectric failures, and the government is eager to change course.

Wakeham unveiled the agreement last month in St. John’s, alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney, who touted it as the “largest clean energy investment in North American history.” The federal government would kick in about $10-billion in financing for several projects pitched in the agreement, including transmission lines and a new power plant at Gull Island.

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If the resolution passes, negotiators would keep hammering out final agreements, which they hope to reach by the end of the year.

But opposition politicians spent the past few days sounding the alarm about concerns from pricing structures to a lack of support from the Innu people. The Churchill River cuts through the heart of traditional Innu territory, called Nitassinan, in south-central Labrador.

Isaac Goulding was among a handful of people waiting to get into the government buildings in St. John’s on Monday to watch the first day of debates. It was his 28th birthday, but he wanted to spend it learning more about the proposed agreement.

“(Churchill Falls) has been a pretty big topic in my family for a long time, so I’ve always been interested in this,” he said in an interview. “This is kind of a historic day here and I want to be a part of it.”

The agreement seeks to end years of tension between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, whose provincial hydro utilities co-own and operate the 5,428 megawatt Churchill Falls generating station on the Churchill River in Labrador. Under a contract set to expire in 2041, Hydro-Québec buys more than 80 per cent of the Churchill Falls power for just 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour, a price far below market value.

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The arrangement has long been a source of bitterness in Newfoundland and Labrador. The new agreement would terminate the old contract 15 years early and set new, escalating rates for Churchill Falls power.

Goulding said the old contract, signed in 1969, has always been a topic of heated discussion among his family, who felt it was an injustice that needed to be corrected. He had an uncle who was particularly passionate about the issue, but he died before the government announced the 1969 contract might end.

“I’m here a little bit for him, too, because I know how important it was for him,” Goulding said.