A hydro deal worth billions of dollars hangs in the balance as the House of Assembly begins debate on the MOU between Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec.
The Liberal Opposition says government was still scrambling as of Saturday afternoon to finalize the format and schedule of the Churchill Falls debate.
Further, Leader John Hogan says government decided, at the last minute, that Jerome Kennedy, a former PC cabinet minister brought in quietly by Premier Tony Wakeham early this year to review the original MOU drawn up by the Furey Government, will be available.
Churchill Falls (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador)
Kennedy was one of the main architects of the Muskrat Falls project which doubled in cost and was declared a boondoggle by the man brought in to clean up the financial mess, Stan Marshall.
Hogan says members of the House of Assembly were informed Friday night that Kennedy was being added as a guest, despite previously being told that he would not be available to answer questions. Then, Saturday afternoon, he says Kennedy’s availability period had changed again.
Hogan says the format is designed to hide the Premier from questions and accountability, and that the debate looks more and more like a public relations exercise.
Opposition House Leader Lisa Dempster (left) and NDP Leader Jim Dinn (right). (VOCM News)
Cartwright-L’Anse au Clair MHA Lisa Dempster has indicated she will not vote for the agreement, but it’s unclear how the rest of the party plans to vote.
NDP Leader Jim Dinn says he will not vote for it unless it’s put to an independent review, and is able to vote following those findings.
As it stands, the resolution goes to the yay-nay stage on Thursday.
Today’s session opens at 10:00 a.m., and VOCM News will be there.
