The federal energy minister says he was directed by Prime Minister Mark Carney that his main job was to get the Churchill Falls expansion and Gull Island projects online.

Tim Hodgson was in St. John’s Friday, speaking to more than 150 energy executives and industry leaders about the sector’s prospects.

He says if both sides focus on securing a deal, the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador can achieve a “win-win.”

“Right now, it feels like we’re arguing over how to split the pie. If that’s the conversation between the two provinces, fine, we’ve got nothing to add. But if you want to talk about how to grow the pie so you each can have more, that’s a conversation we can be a part of,” he said in his speech.

“To the credit of both premiers, they instantly said, we want to grow the pie. This is not the time to dwell in the past. This isn’t the time to fight over a fixed pie when you can grow the pie, and each side can walk away with more of it.”

Provincial Liberal energy critic Fred Hutton says whatever way you slice it; Newfoundland and Labrador will get a smaller piece.

“Their role here was to grow the pie and how the pie was distributed was up to Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. And it is our opinion that in the MOU that was presented back in August, Quebec gets the bigger piece of pie,” he told VOCM News.

“They’re getting more money from Ottawa, they’re getting $6.5 billion of that $10 billion, which is more than the $3.5 billion we’re getting. They’re getting five times the amount of power out of this. The pie is bigger, the project is bigger than the original MOU, but our piece is smaller.”