Two long-time critics of the Muskrat Falls project say they’re underwhelmed by yesterday’s announcement.

David Vardy says he expected “at least $200-million on the table.”

Ron Penney says the fact that the federal government provided a loan guarantee for the project, gave the province some bargaining power. Because if it didn’t work, then the federal government would have to step in and take over the project.

More Questions Than Answers

Yesterday’s announcement was nothing more than a signal that the two levels of government are going to negotiate according to Penney.

He says among the solutions offered up by government is making use of the dividends to lower rates, but that raises more questions than it answers.

“What do we do about the $3.7-billion we borrowed for equity?” he asks. If we don’t use the dividends for that purpose, then the taxpayer will have to pay for it.

The taxpayer and ratepayer are one and the same, and it won’t make any difference since the dividends ultimately come from us says Penney.

Penney and Vardy, along with Dennis Browne, Bern Coffey and Richard Cashin made up Group 2041 which provided one of the few publicly critical voices in the early days of discussion on Muskrat Falls.

Consumer Advocate Dennis Browne calls the Muskrat Falls issue a “massive problem.”

He’s studying the announcement along with Dr Feehan and Doug Bowman and will have more to say in the coming days following a complete assessment.