The province’s finance minister admits it could take some time before government takes action on the recommendations of the Rothschild report on public assets.

The company did a review of provincial assets like the NLC, Marble Mountain and oil and gas holdings at a cost of $5 million.

Government says the results of that review will not be made public citing “a significant amount of commercially-sensitive information.”

Finance Minister Siobhan Coady says regardless of what decisions could be made, Marble Mountain for instance will remain a growth opportunity for western Newfoundland. She did, however, make a point of highlighting the province’s offshore equity position.

“Are we getting the best value out of that?” she asked, adding “hopefully the report will delve into that, as an example.”

Coady says with the budget this week, she has not had a chance to review the report, and any possible action that is taken will likely take some time. She says while they’ll do it as “expeditiously as we possibly can,” it needs to be done right.

Independent MHA Paul Lane says he cannot support the sale of any provincial assets without the proper information being released publicly.

Lane says he cannot support any sale of assets without having all the numbers and related data from the Rothschild report. He says there needs to be meaningful public input and a separate debate in the House of Assembly on each individual asset.

He raised the matter during debate in the House of Assembly on the future of the Stephenville Airport.

He says the “just trust me” approach will not fly, referencing his own support of the Muskrat Falls project during his time in the PC caucus. He told the House that he is not proud of his support for Muskrat Falls, and that it is something he’ll have to wear for the rest of his life, even though he did it in good faith. “I’m not going down this road when it comes to our provincial assets,” he told the Legislature.