Quebec Premier Francois Legault responds to the Opposition during question period at the legislature in Quebec City, Thursday, May 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
May 29, 2025 - 2:15 PM
QUÉBEC — Quebec Premier François Legault says he will ask the federal government to help finance the transmission lines for hydroelectricity projects connecting his province and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Legault said today that he will make the request next week during a meeting between the premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Carney has promised that his government will work with the provinces to fast-track projects of national interest.
The premiers of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador signed a new draft agreement between their provinces' utility companies in December.
An eventual deal would see Hydro-Québec pay much more for Churchill Falls power and co-develop new projects with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro along the Churchill River.
The new Churchill Falls deal is expected to cost Hydro-Québec at least $33.8 billion. It replaces an agreement signed in 1969 that allowed Hydro-Québec to purchase the lion's share of the energy from the massive power station in Labrador for rock-bottom prices.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2025.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2025