Two of the biggest players in the MOU reached between NL Hydro and Hydro Quebec on the renegotiation of the contentious Upper Churchill contract are now gone with the resignation of Hydro Quebec’s Michael Sabia.

Sabia is joining Mark Carney’s cabinet as the Clerk of the Privy Council, the country’s top bureaucrat.

Political commentator and host of the Tim Powers Show on VOCM, calls it a “very good appointment.”

NL Hydro CEO Jennifer Williams says it’s business as usual as the two utilities work to finalize the deal, but Powers says with former Premier Andrew Furey and Sabia both out of the picture, its still too early to tell what impact their departures will have.

“When you lose two of the big proponents in a deal making process, and the second one, was Premier Furey, questions are going to be asked about the commitment of others to it,” he told Your VOCM Mornings.

“May not be an issue, may be an issue, probably too early to tell. But two of the players who brought this deal to a close are now no longer on the scene.”