Inquiry hears of Quebec-N.L. tensions over Churchill River energy
HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. — The Muskrat Falls inquiry has been told that Quebec’s hold on the Churchill River’s resources has long blocked Newfoundland and Labrador from accessing elusive energy markets.
Historian Jason Churchill was an expert witness Wednesday at the independent inquiry into the cost and schedule overruns of the $12.7 billion Labrador dam, led by provincial Supreme Court Justice Richard LeBlanc.
Churchill presented a report on the political struggle over the river’s hydro energy resources from 1949 through 2007, and the province’s attempts to sign agreements to export and sell Labrador’s valuable energy resources.
“The expression ‘the more things change the more they stay the same’ encapsulates the overall theme of negotiations to develop the Churchill River’s hydroelectric potential,” Churchill’s report reads. “The geographic isolation of Labrador’s hydroelectric resources has dominated discussions from Confederation.”