For the Williams government, the disgraceful deal struck with Quebec in the 1960's on the Upper Churchill, and hence the physical existence of Quebec itself, are the major impediments to the Lower Churchill development. The Upper Churchill development was a lopsided Quebec-winning absurd deal. The federal government at the time did not intervene to assist Newfoundland and Labrador in getting a fairer deal. It has often been said that Quebec threatened separation if the federal government intervened to allow NL to build transmission access across Quebec, therefore, NL was left with little choice but to go by PQ and Hydro Quebec rules for development. That is the injury that every premier since Smallwood has not wanted to suffer again. Williams doesn't want to repeat that. Unfortunately, our province is low on options. Dean MacDonald of NL Hydro recently said that undersea electrical transmission route for Lower Churchill power was a realistic option, but
Simon provides some information to make that claim sound doubtful and disappointing.
Ontario wants the clean energy power, but Quebec is in the way.
"We have an air quality problem. We have a need for new power. We think the east-west energy grid is the railroad of the 21st century." - Dwight Duncan, Ontario Energy Minister.
It still seems unclear how the project will be financed. Will the federal government give NL loans to "go it alone", or will, Hydro Quebec, Allah forbid, be involved again to finance it? Of course, there are other proposals out there, that has so far been rejected by Williams. In any case, what would the deal look like now in the likely case of going across Quebec? What will the cost be of using Quebec territory again? It would be a great time for the federal government to intervene this time to help Newfoundland and Labrador be compensated for the ludricous deal that gave Quebec virtually all benefits from the Upper Churchill.
