One year ago today, Tony Wakeham made a clear commitment to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador: if elected Premier, he would put any final deal on Churchill Falls and Gull Island to a public referendum.
He asked Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to trust his word.
One year later, that referendum is gone. And it is far from the only commitment Premier Wakeham has broken.
“If Tony Wakeham was willing to break the biggest promise he made during the election campaign, on one of the biggest decisions our province will ever make, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have every right to ask: how can we trust what he says today?” says Opposition Leader John Hogan.
Wakeham campaigned on the promise of greater scrutiny, greater transparency and a direct say for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. Yet since becoming Premier, his actions have repeatedly contradicted his words.
He promised a referendum on the final Churchill Falls agreement. There will be no referendum. He said no deal would be signed without the clear consent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. He’s proceeding without it.
The Premier said members of his Independent Review Committee would be available so the public could hear directly from them about their findings. They never appeared publicly to answer questions about their report.
In 2024 and 2025, Wakeham demanded rigorous debate and scrutiny of the Churchill Falls agreement. But now that it is his deal before the House of Assembly, his government has imposed a structure that restricts the Opposition’s ability to directly question the Premier and Ministers about the decisions they made.
The Premier is now asking the public to take his word for what his Churchill Falls deal actually delivers.
“One year ago, Tony Wakeham looked Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in the eye and promised them a referendum. Today, he is asking those same people to trust his description of a deal they will no longer get to vote on,” says Hogan.
“That is why trust matters.”
If the Premier’s word on a referendum lasted less than a year, why should Newfoundlanders and Labradorians simply take his word today when he tells them this is a better deal?
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