Out of the Loop? PCs say omission from budget announcement weakens N.L.'s negotiating stance
Furey says N.L. an essential part of Atlantic Loop, and deputy PM backs him up
Newfoundland and Labrador's Official Opposition says Premier Andrew Furey needs to be more aggressive in defending the province's interests in a proposed major Atlantic Canada energy project.
On Tuesday in the House of Assembly, Opposition leader David Brazil referenced a National Observer article published Monday that said Newfoundland and Labrador had been deliberately left out of a federal government announcement last week about transmission line upgrades in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia — the "Atlantic Loop."
The article claims Finance Canada confirmed the exclusion of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador wasn't an accident but doesn't cite a specific source.
"Just think of it now — you've got federal bureaucrats, a federal minister who's specifically outlining what shows favouritism to one of the negotiators in a major contract negotiation: the 2041 deal for Newfoundland and Labrador," said Brazil after question period Tuesday. "So in our opinion, that weakens our negotiating stance at the table as part of that process."
The National Observer article also quotes federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson as saying "most of the power is assumed to be coming from the Quebec grid."
Brazil said it seems like the federal government is favouring Quebec as the supplier of power to the Maritimes through energy assets in Labrador.
"Now all of a sudden, we're no longer part of it?" he said.
Furey characterized the omission of Newfoundland and Labrador from last week's budget announcement as a "benign omission."
"Of course, I have no idea who penned that particular line," he said. Every conversation he's had with federal ministers as well as Prime Minister Justice Trudeau has confirmed that the federal government understands Newfoundland and Labrador is an integral part of the Atlantic Loop.
"That's not a matter of opinion, although it is my opinion," he said. "It's not a matter of necessity, although I believe it is that too. It's a matter of mathematical fact. If you look at the capacity available in Quebec, for example, exclusively, they don't have the capacity to meet the demands of the Maritime provinces."
That means a need for Newfoundland and Labrador's current and future assets, said the premier.
"There is no loop without Newfoundland and Labrador," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking in Mount Pearl on Tuesday afternoon, affirmed Newfoundland and Labrador's importance in the Loop.
"Of course, Newfoundland and Labrador is an essential partner, player, member in the Atlantic Loop. Let me be really clear and categorical about that."
Freeland said the exclusion of P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador from the budget text was because the text was about a specific stage of the project.
"The particular stage of this part of the discussion is about Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick. And really we're just talking about step-by-step construction of the project.… In the tables that we have dedicated to developing the plan for the Atlantic Loop, Newfoundland and Labrador is at the table right now."
