Energy plan? What energy plan?

From the March 23, 2007 sitting of the Bow-Wow Parliament:

MS JONES: The joint partnership between the Labrador Metis Nation and Ventus Energy is prepared to invest $2.5 billion in revenue - more than those equivalent to the Atlantic Accord - and give the Province a 25 per cent equity share in the Highland wind project in Labrador that will generate 1,000 megawatts of power.

I ask the minister today: Why have she and the Premier not been able to take the time to even sit down and hear this case for energy development in Labrador, and why are you not encouraging this investment by the Metis Energy Corporation?

MR. OTTENHEIMER: Mr. Speaker, the proposal that is being suggested by the hon. member, the critic for Natural Resources, is part and parcel of an energy plan that is being presently worked on by this government. A plan, by the way, Mr. Speaker, which requires -

MR. REID: (Inaudible) four years.

MR. OTTENHEIMER: Yes, it is four years, but I will remind the hon. member, Mr. Speaker, when I sat in Opposition, it was in 1998 when the government of the day - which was comprised mostly of members opposite - in fact stated that they were ready to start and commence the working of an energy plan. Well, Mr. Speaker, five years later, in 2003, when members opposite were defeated, we in this Province were still waiting for an energy plan.

Mr. Speaker, it is an important issue. We will put the due diligence into this work. It is important work on behalf of the people in the Province. We hope to be in the position to announce to the public in the spring of this year our complete and diverse energy plan on behalf of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. However, Mr. Speaker, if it takes a while longer, that will be the case.

MS JONES: Now, Mr. Speaker, I listened to the minister and it blows me away, and I will tell you why. He stands up and he says that you cannot entertain an energy project in Labrador in the absence of an energy plan. Well, I would like to remind the minister that there are private sector companies investing in wind power and environmental assessments being conducted on the Island of Newfoundland today in the absence of an energy plan. Why the double standard for Labrador, Minister? Why are you not allowing the Metis Energy Corporation and Ventus Energy to move forward with an environment assessment on this particular wind power project? You know it does not grant approval or disapproval by allowing that to happen. So, why aren’t you doing it?

MR. OTTENHEIMER: As just indicated, Mr. Speaker, this proposal that is being presented by the member opposite will be considered in its entirety as part and parcel of an energy plan, which is being put together, which is being worked on by this government, as we speak, and in due course the appropriate announcement will be made.

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, we already know that there are two standards here. There are projects given the environmental assessment and the go ahead for wind power on the Island, but this company has not been granted the same in Labrador. In fact, this company has been doing wind data on the Smallwood Reservoir on the Height of Land wind project for the past year. They are prepared to share that data with government.

I have to ask, Minister: Why are you not communicating with this company? Why is it that government went in there and put up their own wind towers to conduct their own data? Are your relations and negotiating tactics with private companies so bad in this Province that you cannot even sit down and talk about a project of this magnitude with this kind of capital investment in Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. OTTENHEIMER: Mr. Speaker, the proposal as suggested and the points being brought forward have validity. They have validity on their own. This particular proposal and this concept must be considered in the entirety of an energy plan which is part and parcel of an energy policy for this government. As we speak, it is being formulated. It is proposed that this government, through the Premier - and presumably my colleague, the Minister of Natural Resources, will make the appropriate announcement in due course and we will then see whether or not the points and the validity that is made by the hon. member will, in fact, be included.

Mkay.

Energy plan. Gotta have it before anyone is allowed to harness wind, at least in Labrador.

So why not the wind project in St. Lawrence?

Or the one in Ramea?

Why the double-standard?