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If Newfoundland asks for changes to energy deal, so will Quebec, says minister

  • The Canadian Press

  • Canadian Press

  • November 17, 2025

Quebec Energy Minister Christine Frechette responds to the Opposition during question period at the legislature in Quebec City, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

ST. JOHN'S -- Quebec's energy minister says if Newfoundland and Labrador pushes for changes to a draft energy deal between the two provinces, Quebec will make new requests of its own.

But Christine Frechette suggested she didn't want the agreement to change, saying it strikes "an interesting balance" between the provinces that must be preserved.

Frechette told reporters in St. John's, N.L., she would meet this afternoon with newly minted Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham to discuss the deal.

Wakeham has promised to have the draft agreement reviewed by an independent third party and subject the final version to a referendum.

Announced in December, the proposed deal would raise the rate Hydro-Quebec pays for electricity from the Churchill Falls plant in Labrador, ending the existing contract 16 years early.

The arrangement was shepherded by Newfoundland and Labrador's previous Liberal government, which fell to Wakeham's Progressive Conservatives in the Oct. 14 provincial election.

This report by was first published Nov. 17, 2025.