Leaders spar over Quebec energy deal as Newfoundland and Labrador campaign begins

By Canadian Press on September 15, 2025.

ST. JOHN’S — The leaders of Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest political parties took shots at once another on Monday over a draft energy deal with Quebec as campaigns began for a general provincial election on Oct. 14.

Liberal Leader John Hogan bookended a speech at the party’s campaign launch with stirring lines about the bright future ahead after the two provinces’ hydro utilities sign binding final agreements, which are expected next year.

“It’s an opportunity that Newfoundland and Labrador has been waiting for 50 years,” he told a crowd of about 100 Liberal supporters at a golf course in St. John’s. “The future is finally in our hands. Let’s embrace it, let’s protect it, and let’s build a stronger, fairer, safer Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Tony Wakeham, the leader of the Progressive Conservatives, won’t even say if he supports the tentative agreement, Hogan later told reporters.

Across town, Wakeham promised to have the agreement reviewed by an independent party, to ensure Newfoundland and Labrador is getting the best possible deal. A final agreement would be subject to a referendum, so the public could have its say.

“I’ve been quite clear that you should subject it to an independent review,” Wakeham said in an interview. “What Mr. Hogan has failed to do is tell people why he will not send this for an independent review.”

The Liberals held 19 of 40 seats in the legislature when Hogan called the election Monday. The Progressive Conservatives held 14 seats and the NDP held one. There were two Independents and four seats were vacant.

As the campaign begins, Newfoundland and Labrador is struggling under a staggering debt load. Its net debt was expected to reach $19.7 billion next year. In a province home to 540,000 people, the debt works out to more than $36,400 per person.

The Liberals hope the new energy deal with Hydro-Québec will help turn things around. The draft deal promises more than $225 billion to the treasury of Newfoundland and Labrador over the next 50 years, officials have said. The majority of that money will come from Hydro-Québec paying new, higher rates for energy from the Churchill Falls power plant in Labrador.

The deal ends 16 years early a contract signed in 1969 that has allowed Hydro-Québec to buy more than 80 per cent of the Churchill Falls energy for rock-bottom prices. That contract yielded close to $28 billion in profits to Quebec, and about $2 billion for Newfoundland and Labrador as of 2019.

“I’ll make sure we get everything we deserve out of that deal,” Hogan said Monday. “But rest assured, if we don’t get what Newfoundlanders and Labradorians deserve, we’ll hold Quebec to account for that.”

Health care, housing and the cost of living are also likely to take top billing in party platforms.

Newfoundland and Labrador is at a critical point in its history as the Liberals look for another majority government, Hogan told reporters Monday.

“I think a lot of us feel we’re still trying to get to where we can be and where we deserve to be … but we’re on the right path,” he said. “Things are pointing in the right direction, and we want to continue that work.”

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will vote in three separate elections this year. They voted in the federal election in April, and they will vote in provincial and municipal elections in October.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2025.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press