Amid Fears Newfoundland Is Being Shut out of Altantic Loop, Freeland Says Province Is ‘At the Table’

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Feb. 13, 2023. (The Canadian Press/ Patrick Doyle)

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Newfoundland and Labrador is “at the table” during discussions on the Atlantic Loop, amid concerns among politicians that the province is being shut out of the project.

“I do also want to be very clear that in the tables that we have dedicated to developing the plan for the Atlantic Loop, Newfoundland and Labrador is at the table right now” Freeland said during a press conference in St. John’s on Tuesday to highlight investments from the recent 2023 budget.

Freeland was responding to a question about the budget failing to mention NL in regards to the Atlantic Loop, a series of interprovincial transmission lines that will provide “clean electricity” between Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. The budget said there are negotiations with Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia to “identify a clear path to deliver the project by 2030.”

Freeland said the Atlantic Loop is a “very important project for Canada,” which she also mentioned during her budget speech in the House of Commons last week.

“Of course, Newfoundland and Labrador is an essential partner, player member in the Atlantic Loop, so let me be really, really clear and categorical about that.”

The finance minister said the province wasn’t mentioned in that part of the budget because that “stage” only involved Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. “We’re just talking about the step-by-step building of the plan right now.”

Freeland was also asked about recent comments from Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson on the Atlantic Loop. Last week, Wilkinson said Budget 2023 would give “transformational” investments to the provinces and territories, allowing them to grow their grids while at the same time cutting pollution. He said the Atlantic Loop is a clear example of how to move clean electricity across the country.

But while Wilkinson said NL had been involved in conversations around the Atlantic Loop, he said the direct conversations “in terms of the transmission infrastructure have been largely with Quebec, simply because most of the power is assumed to be coming from the Quebec grid.”

While Quebec’s provincially owned utility Hydro-Quebec has assets worth $82.7 billion and generates over 37,000 megawatts of electricity—making it the largest utility in the country—NL has assets with under $20 billion and produces just over 8,000 megawatts of generating capacity.

‘Very exciting project’

When asked about Wilkinson’s comments, Freeland replied that the Atlantic Loop was a “very exciting” project for Canada and the Atlantic provinces. “Newfoundland and Labrador is an essential element and player in the Atlantic Loop,” she said.

Wilkinson added that some of the power for the Atlantic Loop project could come from Churchill Falls, a hydro dam in Labrador that provides about 15 percent of Hydro-Québec’s total power. While the project is jointly owned by Hydro-Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, the contract has led to Quebec bringing in a total of $28 billion in profits compared to $2 billion for NL.

During a trip to NL in February, Quebec Premier Francois Legault acknowledged that the contract, signed back in the 1960s, was a “bad deal” for the province. “I completely understand the frustration and anger you have dealt with concerning the Churchill Falls contract,” he told Newfoundland Premier Andrew Furey during a press conference.

Furey was asked on Tuesday why the province wasn’t mentioned in the budget’s portion on the Atlantic Loop. He responded that there could not be an Atlantic Loop without Newfoundland and Labrador, and the federal government is aware of that.

“The transmission lines themselves cannot generate electricity,” he said.