Filibuster launched over Muskrat Falls bills

Opposition politicians kept the house of assembly running through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, as they tried to delay two enabling bills connected to the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project.

The governing Progressive Conservatives introduced Bill 60 and Bill 61 to provide the legal mechanisms that can allow the Lower Churchill hydro project to proceed.

But the Liberals and NDP have vowed to keep the house open in the hopes of delaying passage of the bill, even as Christmas looms closer.

The government has already moved to limit how long the debate can continue, with closure invoked on second reading of the bills.

The new legislation gives Nalcor, Newfoundland and Labrador's Crown energy corporation, a monopoly for wholesale power, and also forces the Public Utilities Board to accept all costs associated with Muskrat Falls when it sets final power rates for ordinary consumers.

Although both the Liberal and NDP have said for weeks that they were prepared to launch a filibuster over the bills, even though they had not then been revealed, Liberal Leader Dwight Ball said the Opposition had no choice when they saw the texts.

"Were left with no choice but to filibuster," Ball said in a statement.

He noted that the legislation could have been tabled two weeks ago, but instead is being rushed through the house.

"The last time government did that with an expropriation bill, they ended up with over $100 million in environmental liabilities and an old Abitibi mill," Ball said, referring to how the government accidentally expropriated the now-defunct mill in Grand Falls-Windsor, a case that resulted this month in a loss at the Supreme Court of Canada.

The legislation also covers the expropriation of land for transmission lines.