The leader of the federal NDP says both the federal and provincial governments are rushing into a deal on the Churchill River, and the deal lacks what he calls significant consultation.
Avi Lewis’ comments came ahead of his speech at the NDP convention in St. John’s, the first of four stops in Atlantic Canada, where he commends what he feels is a strong party.
Lewis says Ottawa has a habit of fast-tracking major projects without due consultation or assessment, and cites Churchill Falls as an example.
“I think Jim (Dinn) and Sheilagh (O’Leary) have made some really good points, and they voted a ‘no, not yet’ until there’s real oversight, until the Public Utility Board is really in charge of this thing, until the experts being consulted are independent and not swallowed up by the big rush for the project, and until the Innu have given their consent,” he told VOCM News.
He calls Jim Dinn and Sheilagh O’Leary as the only “adults in the room.”
