"With a new Cabinet now in place in Ottawa and renewed calls from other jurisdictions for energy, it is time to develop the Lower Churchill for the benefit of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians," said Parsons. "I would like to know when negotiations will commence and on what basis. The Williams government was very critical of the Liberals when we attempted to negotiate a deal with the Government of Quebec last year and I would now like further information of how they will proceed.

"It is certainly time to act on this file. The Williams government has been in office for almost nine months and we have seen no action on this file. There is a fully staffed office over at the Hydro building that is still awaiting instructions from this government while potential energy and substantial revenues continue to flow into the ocean."

The Liberal MHA believes it is projects like the Lower Churchill that will provide essential revenues to the province in the future. "With an economy currently based on non-renewable resource revenues that are projected to decline over time, it is very important that projects like the Lower Churchill move forward. Large hydro projects like this can easily provide revenues to the province for 75-100 years or more."

The Gull Island power project on the Lower Churchill is a $4 billion, 2000MW project that can provide long-term energy to a large domestic or export customer at reasonable cost and limited environmental impact.