Premier Andrew Furey is defending his relationship with one of the directors at World Energy GH2 following some heavy scrutiny in the House of Assembly yesterday.

The concerns stem from an allNewfoundlandLabrador article about a fishing trip Furey and his father took at a lodge in Labrador owned by John Risley in July 2021.

Questions in the House of Assembly were around a potential conflict of interest arising as a result of the trip as it relates to the proposed hydrogen project on the west coast.

Furey says potential projects were not discussed during his time at the lodge, and that he did not discuss confidential government business with Risley or any of his friends.

Furey states that he has made no secret of his relationship with Risley, noting that he has put up “ethical walls” to protect those situations. He says that means if a decision on that file were to come to cabinet, he would step aside and not be a part of the process.

Ultimately, Furey says he’s allowed to have friends and it’s unreasonable to think that he can’t have conversations with those friends.

Furey says since day one people have been criticized his charitable work, his practicing medicine, and now what he does on his vacation time. He says there needs to be respect for what politicians do in their personal time.

Opposition Leader Barry Petten says for him it’s about the optics of the situation.

He says they all have friends, but as MHAs they are all held to a different standard. Petten says this is a billion-dollar project, and they want to make sure everything is above board before it gets off the ground.