Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil visited Newfoundland this week because he says Rodney MacDonald is dropping the ball on an Atlantic energy corridor.
McNeil was invited to speak with Premier Danny Williams about bringing energy from Churchill Falls to Nova Scotia.
“This is not a time for the rest of us to sit back,” said McNeil.
“We need to be promoting Lower Churchill coming into Nova Scotia. Quebec and Ontario are energy-starved, too. They’re going to be looking for that energy. We need to become a player.”
It’s a bit unusual for an opposition leader to take such a trip. Premier Rodney MacDonald dismissed that McNeil was stealing his thunder, and said his government had been working hard for the corridor.
“I’m glad he’s on board with what we’ve been doing the last few years. In fact, I’ve had this discussion many times with Premier Williams. We’ve already signed a (memorandum of understanding) with Newfoundland and Labrador,” said MacDonald.
But McNeil says that just isn’t true. He said the premier has no arrangement with Newfoundland, but instead has an MOU with the company Emera to look into bringing power to Nova Scotia.
“He’s leaving Nova Scotia’s energy needs up to Emera and Nova Scotia Power. And as we all know, they haven’t treated Nova Scotians well in recent times. That’s the void of leadership that’s taken place. That’s exactly why I was in Newfoundland,” said McNeil.
McNeil said premier Williams was “receptive” to the idea of an Atlantic energy corridor, but the province needs to keep aggressively selling itself.
