Churchill Falls deal expected to be announced Monday
NTV has learned an agreement has been reached between Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec in the long-running dispute over Churchill Falls. An announcement is expected early next week, days before Quebec’s provincial election campaign gets underway.
Premier Tony Wakeham’s office told NTV’s legislative reporter Ben Cleary just after 6:30 p.m. that “we can confirm that in recent days we have made significant progress in our negotiations with both Quebec and the Government of Canada as it relates to replacing the 2024 MOU with a new deal for Churchill Falls and Gull Island. As of right now, no final deal has been signed.”
It’s a deal that has been years in the making, one that has seen a major reset since the change in government. In December 2024, then-Premier Andrew Furey and Quebec Premier Francois Legault signed a MOU that was supposed to replace the controversial 1969 Churchill Falls contract. In fact, Furey ripped up that old deal in front of cameras.
The proposed deal would have increased the price Quebec pays for Churchill Falls power, while also opening the door to a new hydroelectric development in Labrador, including Gull Island.
The Furey government said the agreement could deliver more than $225 billion dollars in revenue to Newfoundland and Labrador over the life of the proposed arrangements.
Wakeham’s PC government, however, wasn’t prepared to simply sign off and wanted an independent review of the MOU. That review, as reported by NTV, found the agreement provided major short-term financial benefits but a better deal could be negotiated.
The province then sent negotiators back to the table with Quebec and, as the Premier’s Office told NTV’s Ben Cleary, if and when signed, it will be a “new and better deal.”
The details are expected to be released early next week, potentially marking a new chapter in the decades-long Churchill Falls battle, and NTV News will have all the details.
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