Opposition questions timing of Lower Churchill Benefits Strategy   

Liberal Opposition Leader and MHA for the District of Cartwright-L’Anse au Clair, Yvonne Jones, questions the timing and the cost of the Lower Churchill Benefits Strategy released this week by government, given that the project may be close to a decade before it  is sanctioned.    

Jones was reacting to a Lower Churchill Construction Projects Benefits Strategy report, issued by the provincial government, highlighting employment benefits during the construction phase of the proposed Lower Churchill development.  

“This benefits strategy is a premature promotion of a project that is still very much up in the air,” says Jones.  “This report may be an essential part of the Environmental Assessment project, but my concern is about the money spent just to fulfill an environmental process when there are no guarantees the project will ever be sanctioned.”

The Opposition Leader points out that there are many outstanding pieces of the Lower Churchill project that have yet to be completed.  “Government has yet to attain any power purchase agreements with potential customers; there is no arranged financing of the project, estimated at more than $8 billion; and no sign of anyone willing to underwrite the project.  Further, a definitive transmission route has not been selected and there are outstanding issues with aboriginal groups including the Labrador Innu and the Quebec Innu.  Finally, we have very low wholesale electricity rates in the US due to low demand.

“If this report has been compiled to meet the requirements of an environmental process, I question if it will be in vain. Most EIS have a shelf life and with the distance to go for this government to secure a Lower Churchill agreement, I fear most of the information will not be valid in a few years.

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