Notes for NLPROUD Rally at Confederation Building, Monday September 14, 2026.
Ladies and Gentlemen, We are protesting today when we should celebrating.
We should be celebrating that a Wakeham Government elected less than a year ago listened to the voters and accomplished something meaningful…BUT WE CAN’T CELEBRATE…The Premier did not prepare for success and did not stand behind his promise to the people of this Province;
We should be celebrating the fact we have in Churchill Falls one of the greatest and most valuable hydroelectric resources in the world…that a baseline has been set for what Premier Furey failed to achieve…BUT, WE ARE NOT HERE TO CELEBRATE ENLIGHTENED GOVERNMENT, are we?
We should be celebrating that Premier Wakeham told Hydro-Quebec that it wanted too much but offered too little….
We should be celebrating that that Premier Wakeham walked away from the negotiating table, that he showed intelligence and resolve…BUT WE DID NOT GET THAT KIND OF LEADERSHIP.
We should be celebrating that the Government armed our negotiating team with defined goals, the requirement for at least 75% of the revenue from CF, Market Rates for our power, open transmission to third party customers…BUT That’s not even close to what Premier Wakeham agreed to…so WE HAVE NO REASON to Celebrate;
We should be celebrating the death of the 1969 Contract which represents billions of dollars of lost revenue…
We should be celebrating the end of the MOU signed by the Andrew Furey Administration…BUT, we cannot.
So today, my friends, Premier Wakeham having let us down, we are not here to celebrate…we are here to protest…
We are here to protest another bad deal for NL.
We are here to protest that Premier Wakeham’s deal, like Premier Andrew Furey, transfers over $200 billion to Quebec during the next 51 years.
We are here to protest Premier Wakeham’s self-proclaimed victory which compares his MOU with the 2/10th of a cent a kWh contained in the 1969 Agreement – not to the 17 cents per kWh – or higher – that is Quebec’s cost of replacing CF power.
We are here to protest that the MOU is essentially the same as an inflation-adjusted 1969 deal except that several clauses make it even worse.
We are here to protest that Hydro-Quebec, the minority shareholder, gets the lion’s share of the annual $4-5 billion in revenue from Churchill Falls and we, the majority shareholder, only a small percentage of that revenue.
We are here to protest that Premier Wakeham’s deal gives us no transmission rights, no off-ramp to renegotiate a bad deal, and negligible inflationary protection over the entire 51-year timeframe.
We are here to protest that MOU2 gives 60% of the ownership in Gull Island project, AND supplies power to Hydro Quebec at cost, not the market value which would allow NL a return from our resource.
We are here to protest because – in the words of David Vardy – and I quote – “just as the 1969 power contract locked us in a vice which could only be unlocked after 2041, Premier Wakeham’s MOU 2 will push our “liberation day” off to 2077. This will limit our fiscal capacity and erode our sovereignty. We have invested over 55 years to gain back our rights and control of the Churchill River assets; MOU 2 surrenders our assets to HQ again!”
My Friends, we own 65.8% of CFLco and 100% of the water that drives the CF turbines. Yet, we give 84% of our inexpensive CF power to Quebec FOR 2.1 cents per kWh (PV) – NOT the MARKET PRICES WE ARE DUE. When Premier Wakeham talks about Labrador economic development, he let’s Hydro-Quebec have the cheap CF power. We have to wait for 12 years while HQ makes up its mind to develop Gull Island…for our economic development, and then we get access to the most expensive power. Premier Wakeham is engaging in self-congratulations when all he has done is foster Quebec’s economic development at our expense. AND IT HAS TO STOP!
When ratepayers in Quebec pay 8 cents per kWh; you pay 16 cents per kWh, what do you get? you receive $300 of your own money to be a silent witness to this travesty.
In short, my friends, we are here to protest an unwise Government, a weak and cowardly Premier, Ministers and cowardly MHAs – on both sides of the House of Assembly – who support this MOU. Yes, cowardly, uninformed and incapable – that’s the situation we are facing…WE CANNOT EVEN CLAIM AN OFFICIAL OPPOSITION that represents our interests. WE DO NOT HEAR JOHN HOGAN and the Liberal Opposition renounce MOU1, nor acknowledge that it was a grave mistake.
We hear from John Hogan about use of the CPI Index when the price of electricity is the only metric to measure inflation. Important as that issue is, he is blind to the massive wealth transfer that the Furey MOU bestows on Quebec.
He is blind to a deal that ignores NL’s 65.8% stake in CFLco and our ownership of 100% of the water resource on the Churchill River; he is blind to the MOU’s failure to reflect market rates for our power or and OPEN ACCESS Transmission rights so that we can sell our power to whomever we please. Both he and Premier Wakeham are blind to the fact that both MOUs are basically the same as the 1969 Contract
The Question is: Where do we go from here? Where do we do with a Government working against NL interests, and Premier Wakeham who made a solemn promise in the last election that the day of “rubber-stamping” resource deals was finished; who promised that the voters would have the last word on any MOU in a referendum?
My answer is that, First, the public must be vigilant in telling Premier Wakeham to scrap this MOU. You should tell him that it is an insult to the dignity of every NL; that it is a sell-out of our resources.
If scap-ping this deal means that Quebec walks away, let them. If Quebec wants to spend 17 cent per kWh replacement for the 15% of their energy that Churchill Falls supplies, let’s watch them do it.
Let’s watch them do that while, in NL, we plan our own industrial strategy, plan – not for short-term jobs – but for long-term prosperity, plan not for how to give away our sovereignty, but how to be masters in our own house.
Please get this message to Premier Wakeham, to the Leader of the Opposition, and to all MHAs in the H of A. They need to hear it – from you – that your interests are at stake, and tell them that you have the power to oust them in the next election.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this MOU is an issue of historic proportions. It is not just about the sale of electric power; it is an issue of dignity, of sovereignty, of wealth creation, of paying off the public debt, of providing you with the public services that our resources can sustain. And rightfully, other speakers will remind you that it is also about issues raised by our aboriginal people and about a two- decades old environmental review.
If we fail in this moment to awaken some sanity in the Wakeham Government and kill this MOU, I believe that we will have created legacy for which our kids and grandkids will never forgive us.
I ask you to get this message to Premier Wakeham, to his Caucus, and to all the Member of the House of Assembly.
Finally, we need to ask: where does your MHA stand?
Thank you very much.