We, the people, have already spilled enough ink about Muskrat Falls to convince a rational and responsible government to abandon the project entirely.
The Dunderdale government is neither rational nor responsible, however, and it is most certainly not worried about the will of the masses.
As a result, we face the disastrous likelihood that generations of captive energy consumers on the island will have to pay for costly hydroelectricity that they don’t even need.
If the Labrador mining concerns absolutely require Muskrat Falls power, as some would suggest, then let them develop the project with their own billions and let them consider it a cost of doing business. Otherwise, as far as I am concerned, we should leave the ore in the ground until another company decides the price is right for its extraction. No more giveaways! (Why does that sound eerily familiar?)
I, for one, won’t lose any sleep if Alderon has to pay a high electricity bill to Hydro-Québec in order to get their mines off the ground without Muskrat power.
Similarly, Alderon won’t lose any sleep if the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is saddled with billions of dollars in debt as a result of this
project’s completion — as long as they still turn a profit for themselves.
The key difference here is that Alderon is looking after its own bottom line.
Our government, on the other hand, is pandering to these corporate interests and is attempting to silence all critics with its singleminded pursuit of this project.
In the process, it is abandoning the working people of our province who have the most to lose — especially if cost overruns spiral out of control.
I call on Premier Kathy Dunderdale to do the right thing and to give the people a voice for a change.
Premier, if you can’t cast this contentious project aside by yourself, then call a referendum on Muskrat Falls and let us decide our own fate.
Anthony Sparrow Jr.
St. John’s
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Down Johnny, down....get off me, you lapdog lackey; it used to be cute, but now its embarassing...go away Johnny.