The Future Is In Our Past -
Has there been a Newfoundland and Labrador premier who hasn't used reopening the Churchill Falls contracta as a way to fire up the electorate? Ever since the infamous contract was signed in 1969, the people of the province have been burdened with feelings of betrayal and resentment. Like the seal hunt, Churchill Falls is a sure fire way to extract loyalty and get the people's minds off such things as the H1N1 flu and social justice.
It is not difficult to feel aggrieved when one has the distinct impression that the politicians of the day, as well as the lawyers, had the wool pulled over their eyes good and proper. If they weren't hoodwinked, they had to have been incompetent or part of a deal to swindle the province. Isn't it better to think that they were naÏve?
There seems little doubt that the Churchill Falls contract was arrived at in an unfair manner. Because of the geography it was virtually impossible to get the power to market without crossing the province of Quebec. With that important card up its sleeve, Hydro Quebec said it would not allow free movement of the power to markets.
Hydro Quebec would not allow transmission through the Hydro Quebec power grid and it would not allow the construction of another power corridor to reach the markets. It demanded sale of the power to Hydro Quebec, for resale to the markets.
With this situation apparently carved in stone the Churchill Falls (Labrador) Company (CFLCO) faced ruin if it could not secure a contract. Hydro Quebec, ever mindful of its immense power, demanded the shop and, to its astonishment, got it, according to Eric Kierans, a then Minister in the Quebec cabinet.
The ridiculous nature of the contract that was signed is the finest Newfie joke. Not only did the company and the Newfoundland government agree to a 40-year contract, but that contract also had a renewal clause for another 25 years. Yet, that being bad enough, the price of the power was negotiated to go down consistently over the life of the contract.
The contract allows Quebec to reap windfall profits, whereas Newfoundland gets barely enough to maintain the power lines. How could anyone agree to lower the price of the power over a 65-year period? Inflation is ever present and economists and lawyers should have been well aware of this fact. Why then did we agree to such a deal?
It has been reported that Premier Smallwood went to Ottawa to ask then Prime Minister Lester Pearson to establish a Quebec corridor. The government of Canada could have insisted on such a corridor.
According to reports, Prime Minister Pearson told Premier Smallwood, before he even asked, that he knew why the premier was there, and that he hoped he wouldn't ask. Prime Minister Pearson feared the politics in Quebec, and hoped that he wouldn't have to upset the apple cart by supporting Newfoundland. Premier Smallwood didn't ask.
In the context of the political climate of the time, Prime Minister Pearson might not be faulted for taking such a position. Even Prmeier Smallwood may have felt that it was in Newfoundland's best interest not to risk political instability in Canada. The excuses cannot be extended to the unintelligent nature of the contract that was signed with Hydro Quebec.
And here we go again! Hydro Quebec is in negotiations to buy New Brunswick power. If that deal goes through, Newfoundland and Labrador will be in the same boat, with respect to development of the Lower Churchill. There will be no alternate route through New Brunswick for the sale of the power.
Will Quebec Hydro get its way this time? Are the lawyers and politicians in Newfoundland and Labrador government any more intelligent than they were in the 1960s? It's hard to say but they still seem to be playing a political game. The government should have learned, after taking the case all the way to the Supreme Court, that fairness to Newfoundland is not part of the agenda of any federal government.
Former Premier Brian Tobin had the best approach, by far, of all the premiers. He advocated informing the Quebec people and appealing to their sense of fairness and equity. Premier Tobin recognized that the game is changing and governments are becoming less important than the people who elect them.
Had he remained in politics, might Premier Tobin have engaged the people of Canada in a debate about fairness? We will never know. What we do know is Quebec always seems to have the upper hand because of its numbers and its separatist tendencies. Threatening to go to court again over the Upper Churchill is just so much rhetoric from our current premier.
Why not leave the power lines in Newfoundland and Labrador to deteriorate? The amount of money generated from the sale of the power does not justify maintenance. A few (innocent) interruptions in getting the power to market might be fun. Let's start a movement to bring the Falls back to its pristine state before the days of hydropower. More importantly, let's scrap the project after the contract ends. Let's see how Quebec likes that.
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