Quebec's energy minister defends Churchill Falls MOU as an ‘interesting balance’
CBC
Quebec's energy minister is defending the Churchill Falls memorandum of understanding as it currently stands, but says if Newfoundland and Labrador wants to make changes, Quebec will likely do the same.
Premier Tony Wakeham campaigned on getting a better deal with Quebec in October's provincial election, and vowed to put the MOU through an independent review and any new deal to a public referendum.
On Monday, during an eastern premiers and U.S. governors meeting held in St. John's, Quebec's Energy Minister Christine Fréchette said she is looking forward to discussing the deal with Wakeham.
“From our point of view, the current agreement offers an interesting balance and a balance that must be preserved,” Fréchette told reporters.
“If there's some will on Newfoundland and Labrador’s side for bringing some changes, we will be … making demands for changes as well on our side. But for the moment, I think that this agreement offers a very interesting balance between the two of us.”
Wakeham, sitting next to Fréchette, said he has been clear there needs to be an independent review of the MOU and he looks forward to the upcoming discussions with Fréchette, which were scheduled to take place right after the conference.
The exchange took place during a media availability during the 46th annual New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers conference at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown St. John’s.
Quebec Premier François Legault was absent from the conference.
Wakeham said he was not worried about the timeline for the agreement and he’d release details of the independent review “over the course of next little while."
Fréchette said she is not worried about the timeline for the deal either.
“But work keeps going on,” she said.
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