Premier Andrew Furey is creating a new expert panel to provide advice to cabinet on Churchill Falls negotiations, and he says they are looking at ways for some of that information to be released publicly.

Furey announced on the first day of the MOU debate that the team will be established to advise cabinet as they work towards binding agreements. They will be separate from the negotiating committee.

All opposition parties are calling for a independent review of the MOU, and while Furey says the team will provide another level of oversight on the process, a criticism is that they only report to cabinet and not publicly.

Furey says the challenge with the situation is that there is commercially sensitive information that cannot be released, but they are looking at ways for advice from the team to be made public.

“One of the models that has existed in the past….has been Muskrat Falls oversight updates and things, where they weren’t really revealing commercially sensitive information but were providing fulsome updates and that is something we’re contemplating.”

That answer does not satisfy the wants of PC leader Tony Wakeham.

He says the MOU needs to go before an independent panel for review, and the PCs will not be voting for the agreement until that happens.

NDP Leader Jim Dinn has written a letter to the Premier asking for an independent review of the Churchill Falls MOU.

Dinn has given Furey two options for a review, which he says must be independent, and “perceived to be independent,” and report back to the House of Assembly and the public.

The first option is for the PUB to review the deal, and the second is to establish an independent expert oversight and review committee to do the same.