Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette indicated there has been progress<\/a> in negotiations for Churchill Falls.<\/p>\n\u201cDiscussions have sped up in the last while,\u201d Fr\u00e9chette told reporters. \u201cThis makes me very confident that we can sign something soon. It\u2019s a big issue for Quebec.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnergy security is important for Quebec. It\u2019s important to secure energy at competitive prices for future generations. There are regions that need energy; we have companies that need energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what an agreement with Newfoundland represents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fr\u00e9chette and Wakeham met just weeks ago at a meeting of Canada\u2019s premiers in Prince Edward Island. At the time, Fr\u00e9chette said she believed a new agreement would be concluded \u201cmore or less shortly,\u201d and before the fall election in Quebec.<\/p>\n
The 2024 memorandum of understanding between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador was designed to end and replace the controversial 1969 Churchill Falls contract, which allowed Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec to buy power at a very low price.<\/p>\n
The agreement would see Quebec pay Newfoundland and Labrador 10 times more than it has for the power from Churchill Falls. <\/p>\n
It also involved the development and financing of three new projects by Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec, including Gull Island. The deal would mean power for Quebec for the next 50 years.<\/p>\n
The deal faced turbulence, however, from Wakeham\u2019s new Progressive Conservative government.<\/p>\n
After taking power from the Liberals in 2025, Wakeham\u2019s government set up an independent review of the memorandum of understanding. Last spring, that committee concluded the MOU was not in the public interest.<\/p>\n
According to reports, the federal government has played a key role in bringing the two sides closer together by promising Newfoundland and Labrador the extension of a federal refundable tax credit for large infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n
Both provinces have also agreed to increase the production capacity of the new project to ensure both get more power out of the deal.<\/p>\n
Demand for details
On Thursday, however, Quebec\u2019s opposition parties accused Fr\u00e9chette of playing politics, with the general election campaign about to be launched.<\/p>\n
They demanded she reveal the details of any new agreement before the Oct. 5 vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuebecers deserve an agreement that yields the maximum spinoffs,\u201d Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard said in a social media message. \u201cAn agreement signed a few days before the start of an election campaign has the potential to generate lots of skepticism, and the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec has a habit of electoral stunts.<\/p>\n
\u201cChristine Fr\u00e9chette must demonstrate that nothing was sacrificed in negotiations simply to reach a deal before the election.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noting the agreement will bind Quebec for 50 years, Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon questioned the legitimacy of signing such a deal so close to an election and wondered what the rush is.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnergy will be a major issue of the election campaign and Christine Fr\u00e9chette does not have the legitimacy to commit Quebec for such a long term,\u201d St-Pierre Plamondon said.<\/p>\n
Qu\u00e9bec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal said there is no rush to seal such a deal, asking what both Fr\u00e9chette and Prime Minister Mark Carney sacrificed in order to get a deal for Quebec.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore signing, the CAQ must make this (agreement) public,\u201d Ghazal said.<\/p>\n
Fr\u00e9chette responded, telling reporters she was not going to make any deal public before Quebec has in hand something to sign.<\/p>\n
Asked if Quebec made concessions, Fr\u00e9chette said the new agreement \u201cimproved on spinoffs\u201d from the 2024 deal.<\/p>\n
Under the existing agreement, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec pays 0.2 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by Churchill Falls, which, in 2022, it was able to resell at 40 times the price.<\/p>\n
Under the 2024 agreement in principle, Quebec would pay progressively more for energy, at one cent\/kWh in 2025, two cents until 2041 and four cents over the remainder of the contract up to 2075.<\/p>\n
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