Mr. Speaker, I will be interested to hear some of the speeches from the hon. member during this debate.
It will come down to the position of the member.
I am not disputing a contract exists. I have never said that. It has already been to the Supreme Court. The contract exists, but is it right? Would Quebec feel it is right? I do not think so.
Quebec might say "there was a contract and they got us over a barrel. We are taking power at one twenty-fifth of the going rate and for doing that we are netting $800 million to $1 billion a year. We have them by the shorts and for the next 35 or 45 years we will take the boots to them and say they signed so suffer and live with it".
I will ask the hon. member during the speeches that follow if it is just. It is not just. The member knows that. Nobody foresaw the OPEC situation; nobody saw the escalation in prices and demand. Because of this we have a deal which for the next 65 years will keep Labrador and Newfoundland in a have not position; three generations.
We will allow that area to be depopulated. We will allow the people there to suffer the consequences because the deal gives us $1 billion a year. If a deal was signed that would last three generations to the effect that Quebec will take the shaft for the next 65 years at $1 billion a year, would the member say c'est la vie, whatever? I hope he would be up saying Quebec is getting ripped off, that it is not fair and it is not just. If it is not just it needs to be addressed, which is what I hope the new premier of Quebec will do, address an injustice, something that is not fair.
On the legality of the contract, by all means I know it is legal. If by the contract they want to let someone suffer, if they think that is fair, they can do it. I hope they would not. That is one issue.
The other issue is what is the position of the Quebec government on a land corridor for transferring other power from the lower Churchill Falls site? What is its position on the fact that one should be allowed to wield power through the province of Quebec as is done in all other provinces? It is now becoming a North American grid. I hope it would say: "By all means, if you develop Lower Churchill in the years to come you can have either access, a land corridor to transfer that power, or you can have access to our own existing hydro lines to wield the power as we do through all other regions and areas in North America".
There are two issues. Is it just? It is not just. That should be addressed and corrected. More important, "We will not let this continue. We will give you access to our lines and we will give you access to if not that at least a land corridor, something so you can benefit from Voisey Bay mineral deposits with the smelter that will come. We will not make you suffer any longer". That is what is will come down to.