The Official Opposition is calling on Premier Wakeham and the Conservative Government to immediately commit to bringing the final Churchill Falls and Gull Island agreements back to the House of Assembly for debate before they are signed and binding.
In the House of Assembly, Opposition Leader, John Hogan, KC, asked “Will the Premier commit to bringing the final agreements to the House for debate before they are signed? And why should they believe him like they did about the referendum?”
His response was “definitive agreements will be brought back into the House of Assembly.”
There was no commitment to do so before they are signed. That is deeply concerning.
The Premier’s refusal to answer the question raises serious red flags. He wants to rush to negotiate and sign the final agreements without bringing the details for debate, locking Newfoundland and Labradorians into a 50-year contract that allows Quebec alone to reap the benefits of increasing electricity prices.
The Premier has repeatedly characterized the current agreement as a framework that will be followed by final, binding agreements. There are many details to negotiate, as acknowledged by the negotiating team. Bringing agreements to the House after they are already locked in provides no comfort to MHAs or to the public.
“That is a basic question of accountability”, says Hogan. “If the Premier believes this is such a good deal for Newfoundland and Labrador, he should have no problem committing to bringing the final agreements back to this House before he actually puts pen to paper.”
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have already seen first-hand what happens when the government makes promises and then turns their backs on them, just like the Premier’s referendum.
“Newfoundlanders and Labradorians deserve to see final agreements, get answers to their questions, and have their elected representativesdebate the agreements, before they are signed, not after”, says Hogan.
It is also concerning that the Premier refused to commit to allowing his caucus a free vote at the end of the special sitting, even as residents have clearly expressed their concerns with the deal, while one MHA has already left the Conservative caucus and said he will vote against it.
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