Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador ready to sign Churchill Falls deal

The premiers of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador are ready to sign an energy agreement, ending a long-running dispute over the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador.

Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters in Quebec City today he will be in St. John’s, N.L., Thursday to announce the agreement alongside Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey.

Quebec gets about 15 per cent of its energy from Churchill Falls through a deal signed with Newfoundland and Labrador in 1969 that is widely seen as lopsided in favour of Quebec.

The current arrangement allows Hydro-Québec to purchase 85 per cent of the electricity generated at the station for 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour — a price Furey has described as “essentially free.”

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Legault acknowledged it was a “bad deal” for Canada’s easternmost province during a visit to St. John’s last year, but he stopped short of agreeing with Furey that it was an injustice.

The agreement has left a lasting bitterness in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Furey has vowed to fight for a new deal that will better serve the province.