In 1969, Quebec and Newfoundland worked together to build a hydroelectric generating station in Labrador at a place called Churchill Falls. It would go on to produce an enormous amount of energy.
But the deal they struck has haunted Newfoundland ever since.
Because Quebec gets to buy electricity at an absolutely rock bottom price, which hasn’t changed in more than fifty years. And they then turn around and sell that same electricity to the US for as much as fifty times more than what they paid.
Quebec has made tens of billions of dollars off selling Newfoundland’s energy, while Newfoundland has been left with relative peanuts.The injustice of it all has been a source of immense frustration, anger and shame in Newfoundland.
But Churchill Falls is just the most stubborn knot in the long, tangled history between Quebec and Newfoundland. Both are nations within the nation. Quebec because of its unique culture and language and Newfoundland because it was in fact an independent country until it joined Canada. And Quebec has always claimed that much of Labrador rightfully belongs to them — to the point that some government maps still label it as contested territory.
But it’s the bitter fight over hydroelectricity that continues to act as an open wound between these two provinces.
Over the last few weeks, as the Americans have threatened to rain down economic hellfire on Canada, there’s been a lot of talk about opening up interprovincial trade. About the need for east-west pipelines, and whether or not we can use energy exports as leverage against the US.
And so this deal over Churchill Falls has become about more than just righting some historical wrong. It’s another test case for the ideas underlying Confederation. Can the provinces still work together to accomplish big things? Or will we be stuck in cycles of recrimination and resentment that will ultimately be our doom?
Because even a month after the new Churchill Falls deal was announced, things aren’t adding up.
Featured in this episode: Edward Hollett (The Bond Papers)
To learn more
“Hundreds of billions at stake as N.L., Quebec draft new Churchill Falls deal” by Elizabeth Whitten & John Gushue in CBC News ·
“The Ghosts of Shag-Ups Past” by Edward Hollett in The Bond Papers
“1969 Redux” by Edward Hollett in The Bond Papers
“After decades of rancour, can Quebec and Newfoundland finally become friends?” by Konrad Yakabuski in The Globe and Mail
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Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque
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