Question Period Note: Lower Churchill Hydro Electricity Projects

• The Lower Churchill project is an important part of Atlantic Canada’s clean energy future. It will provide a reliable and abundant source of clean energy over the long-term and help the region transition away from coal.
• The federal government has already provided $9.2 billion in loan guarantees that are helping to lower costs for ratepayers.
• We are working closely with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to explore what more the federal government can do to support the project and ratepayers.
• As guarantor, we will continue to closely monitor the Lower Churchill projects as they move forward.
If pressed on next steps on rate mitigation:
• The federal government continues to work with the province to better understand the pressures that the project might create for rate payers.
• The province itself has already announced significant steps to address this and we are looking at ways in which the federal government might do more to help.

There are concerns that the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project is putting considerable financial strain on Newfoundland and Labrador, and that the province did not address the concerns of Indigenous peoples, particularly with regard to methylmercury.

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