Deer Lake -
If he was in a situation like New Brunswick, Tom Marshall says he would never sell provincial assets to Quebec.
"I think it's a major mistake personally," the Finance minister said. "I would never sell, and insist that we remain the owners our own resources. I would never give them away."
Marshall says Newfoundland and Labrador learned its lesson in giveaways, outlining the deal for wood with the predecessor of Abitibi in the early 1900s, and the "very bad" electricity deal with Hydro-QuÉbec through the Upper Churchill contract.
"No more giveaways," he told The Western Star. "These are our resources and they have to be developed to benefit our people."
A multi-billion dollar energy deal was drawn up this week between Hydro-QuÉbec and New Brunswick Power whereby Hydro-QuÉbec would own most of the assets of NB Power and attain the strategic geographic position bordering the northeastern United States.
New Brunswick's population would benefit from lower rates, reduce its provincial debt and allow the province to quickly develop as an energy hub. More than 370,000 customers would be affected by the agreement.
Newfoundland and Quebec are no strangers to energy arguments, with heated fights building over the decades since the Upper Churchill contract of 1969. Presently, Newfoundland is attempting to develop the Lower Churchill project. To make that come to fruition, Marshall says there needs to be a market.
"With the Upper Churchill, when that was to be developed, we wanted to export the electricity through Quebec and sell it into Ontario and the United States markets," he said. "Quebec wouldn't allow it … They insisted on buying the power from us and then they resold it to the Americans on the other end.
"The power stations are in Newfoundland and Labrador and they're really taking advantage of us. It's an unconscionable contract."
In finding the right agreement for the Lower Churchill, Marshall says the province will only go through Quebec if it's a good deal.
"So we've now applied to use Quebec's wires and they're delaying us and blocking us," he said. "With the Lower Churchill, we're now looking at going through what used to be called the Anglo-route, instead of going through Quebec. We'll go around. We'll bring it over the straits over to Newfoundland.
"That way, power is provided for the people here. Then, down near Port-aux-Basques, move it over to Nova Scotia," he said.
Marshall said the province's intent was to go through Nova Scotia, into New Brunswick and down into the northeastern United States.
"Now, through this move, by taking over NB Power, we think they're blocking our access," he said. "... Now we have to look at going entirely through Nova Scotia and then underwater again and that just adds tremendously to the cost," said Marshall. "Hydro-QuÉbec fight us every step of the way. They delay. They make it very, very difficult. Now, the technology is there for us to go around underwater and now they're going to attempt to block us that way as well.
"They're doing these things to prevent us from developing our own resources and selling those resources into the market that'll pay us a fair return," he said.
