The premier believes the Churchill Falls MOU is one of the most important things to talk about in the upcoming election.
While the writ has yet to be dropped, the election must happen on or before October 14th.
Premier John Hogan’s comments came following a meeting yesterday with Quebec Premier Francois Legault and Hydro Quebec CEO Claudine Bouchard.
Hogan took a dig at the Opposition PC’s calls to pause discussions to finalize the deal. He says if the MOU is not finalized, the deal will be killed and there may not be another opportunity.
“I’m very clear, and the Liberal Party is very clear on where we want to be in the future and where we want to be by 2026,” says Hogan.
He accuses the PCs of being “wishy-washy,” in its calls to pause discussions to finalize the MOU. “Pausing a project of this size when Quebec wants to move now, really means we’re stopping the project and we will lose all ability to develop and to benefit from Churchill Falls.”
PC Leader Tony Wakeham says new deal must ensure optimum benefits for province and workers
Saying he can’t go forward with the deal as is, PC Leader Tony Wakeham is unapologetic.
“That’s unfortunate that the Liberal government seems to want to play politics. It’s about the next generation, not the next election,” says Wakeham. “I want to make sure that as Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, any deal I sign will ensure that our resources are developed for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and that it’s our workers that are doing that work.”
NDP Leader Jim Dinn accuses Liberal government of political theatrics
The NDP’s Jim Dinn calls yesterday’s meetings “political theatre 2.0,” and he renewed his call for an independent oversight committee.
“If that’s going to be the election (issue), then we need a lot more transparency and a lot more questions right now. I think that’s bogus in many ways because the whole purpose is to continue negotiating, to have that oversight,” he told reporters.
“There’s no deal set. So is that what the election is going to be about? Why now? So I think he needs to stop deflecting away from the poor record in other areas and by creating, I think, a false choice here.”
