Newfoundland & Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador Opinion

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LETTER: It's time for NL to become a major player in Atlantic Canada's energy delivery

A new, modern MOU with Quebec must acknowledge injustice done to NL and remove energy chokepoints

On June 16th, 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that “… one of the big lessons here is ‘don’t be held hostage to one chokepoint’ in the global economy, whether that’s for oil, for gas…”, etc.

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That statement was a clear articulation of a principle that is not only a reflection of responsible leadership as it applies in a global context. It is a principle that must be applied at home — in Canada — and nowhere more urgently than in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Prime Minister Carney made it clear that modern democratic governments must never accept single-corridor energy chokepoints. Accordingly, his warning applies directly to NL’s situation.

Quebec, however, has used its geographic position as a chokepoint for decades, extracting value from NL’s dependence on Quebec’s energy transmission corridor.

If Canada’s Prime Minister says chokepoints are unacceptable, then any new Quebec/NL energy MOU must reflect that reality and ensure that NL is not financially trapped once again.

As Newfoundland and Labrador enters discussions on a new energy MOU with Quebec, it is time to stop accepting the old pattern, where Quebec uses its own valuation and dictates its own terms — and where NL absorbs the consequences.

If Quebec, for decades, can seek a redress of the Quebec-NL border, any new energy MOU with Quebec must surely and finally acknowledge and obtain redress for the........

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