Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador's efforts to build an underwater cable, using taxpayers' money, in order to sell electricity to the Americans are going full steam ahead. An agreement has been reached with partners from Nova Scotia and a request for as much as $375 million in federal funding has been submitted.
Prince Edward Island would also like to obtain federal funding to build a third underwater cable that would allow electricity to travel between the island and the mainland.
It would be completely unacceptable for the federal government to agree to pay for any of that using Quebec taxpayers' money, when the underwater cable project would mean competition for Hydro-Québec, which pays for its electricity distribution network entirely on its own and has not received a dime from Ottawa.
The Minister of Natural Resources must stop hiding behind PPP Canada to conceal the federal government's intention to fund these projects and ensure that Quebeckers' money is not used to compete unfairly with Quebec.