Crosbie says 'golden age' is coming when Upper Churchill deal done

Ches Crosbie's Progressive Conservative party is pledging a "path to balance" — but no actual balanced budget for at least four years.

The party's blue book platform, revealed Friday in St. John's, says a PC government wouldn't present a balanced provincial budget until a hypothetical second term.

"The overwhelming focus has to be on jobs and growth," Crosbie told reporters in St. John's. "The other half of that, doing something about our expenditure problem. And I've told you that I agree something needs to be done. I made a few remarks as to how we're going to do that. But the focus has to be on generating the wealth, generating the jobs that will keep people here, that will unlock the potential of this province."

The PC plan would mean another four years of budget deficits, and four years of increasing provincial government debt. The province already carries more debt per resident than any other province in the country.

By contrast, neither the Liberal platform nor the NDP platform contains any timeline for a plan to run a balanced budget.

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Welcome to the Election Notebook, the almost-daily campaign round-up that you've come to know and love.

Here's what's happening today:

A golden age … in 2041?

PC Leader Ches Crosbie looked even further ahead than a hypothetical second term at a news conference in St. John's on Friday.

He told reporters that a golden age of prosperity is coming to Newfoundland and Labrador — just as soon as that burdensome Upper Churchill contract runs out.

"I firmly believe once we can get the offshore up and working again and as the return of the Upper Churchill contract comes to us, we will experience a new golden age," he said. "It starts now, though."

The infamous Upper Churchill contract — an almost unparalleled object of provincial scorn and regret — means Hydro-Quebec buys power from Churchill Falls for $2 per megawatt-hour. Residential customers in Newfoundland and Labrador would pay $122 per megawatt-hour, if they could get it under current Newfoundland Power rates.

The contract runs for another 20 years, although this year's blue book said a PC government would "appoint a committee of experts to plan and find urgent solutions to replace the lopsided Churchill Falls contract."

Past attempts to have the contract cancelled have not been successful.

Part of Crosbie's plan to lay the groundwork for economic growth is to promote even more oil and gas development. He said the province can do that while still taking meaningful action on climate change.

"Within the next decade we need to be working more and more towards turning our fleet of vehicles on the highway to electricity, to electric cars," he said. "We need to incentivize industries, particularly the offshore industry, which is already moving in that direction."

Charities seek deal with government

A group of 13 non-profit and community groups have written an open letter to party leaders, asking them to support a new funding model in for community groups in province.

The groups are asking leaders to commit to multi-year funding, something the Dwight Ball government piloted in 2018 — but is now coming to an end.

That pilot program saw the provincial government sign three-year funding deals with 22 different organizations, rather than have them apply for grants each year — as was the norm. Those funding deals expire in April.

"Multi-year agreements provide financial stability; more effective organizational planning; flexibility to allocate funding where most needed; and increased organizational responsiveness to meet the needs of the populations served," the group's open letter, which was published Friday morning, read.

Laura Winters, the executive director of the St. John's Status of Women Council, said in a media release that multi-year funding made it easier to pivot when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

"We are calling on all parties to commit to the renewal and expansion of multi-year funding agreements, to allow the community sector to efficiently provide their services at a time when they are needed the most," she said.

NDP promise permanent deals for women's centres

Just as that open letter was sent, the NDP were holding a news conference in St. John's — and promised permanent "core" funding for women's centres across the province.

"The provincial women's centres do important, front-line work throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, advancing causes from workplace equality to surviving intimate partner violence," said Sheilagh O'Leary, a candidate for the NDP in St. John's.

"Yet they still have to spend time repeatedly writing grant applications to secure the funding needed."

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That promise was one step further than the party went in their platform, where they pledged only "multi-year" funding.

The NDP also said at that news conference that if it was elected, it would pass laws to increase the number of paid leave days for victims of intimate partner violence to five.

Across the web

Telegram reporter Barb Sweet reached the U.S. politician whose 2016 viral video was the inspiration for the PC Party's 2020 campaign ad. He said he was OK with the idea, but warned sequels are very rarely as good.

Meanwhile, Brenda Walsh, a candidate for the NDP in St. John's West, spoke with VOCM about the winter campaign and her experience with wheelchair access around the city.

What's coming up

• NDP Leader Alison Coffin will canvass in her home district and vote in the advance poll.
• PC Leader Ches Crosbie will knock on doors in his home district of Windsor Lake.

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