Energy
Energy
The PCs vowed to “always stand up for the oil and gas sector which has brought much prosperity to the province.”
To develop both renewable and non-renewable resources, the PCs promised to:
- Publish a comprehensive 10-year Energy Plan which will guide the development of both renewable and non-renewable resources, including oil, natural gas, mining, hydro, wind energy, solar energy, and tidal energy in an environmentally conscious manner.
- Always stand up for oil and gas development. We will reignite offshore exploration, support production growth and, most importantly, secure jobs and benefits for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We will internationally showcase our high-quality offshore oil and gas reserves and our world class workforce.
- Boldly promote the development of Bay du Nord. This offshore discovery has the tremendous potential to bring jobs and prosperity to our province. We will leave no stone unturned in advocating for this project. We will ensure that Newfoundland and Labrador receives its fair share of work on the Bay du Nord project, including topside work.
- Reduce the timeline from offshore discovery to production. We will work with the federal government and the offshore board to streamline approval processes.
- Push Ottawa to remove the emissions cap on offshore oil production and reinstate incentive programs such as the Atlantic Investment Tax Credit.
- Require local community benefits agreements for all natural resource projects and public infrastructure contracts valued over $500,000. This will ensure the principal beneficiary of our resources will always be the people of our province. This will prioritize the hiring of local skilled trade workers, awarding of contracts to local companies, and opportunity for apprentices and underrepresented groups such as women, gender diverse individuals, and Indigenous workers. Projects will be required to employ a minimum of 10% apprentices. In partnership with industry and trades unions, we will work towards the benchmarks outlined by TradesNL.
- Make the development of natural gas a priority by investing in a joint feasibility study, funded by the province and industry.
- Maintain vigilant oversight of wind projects to ensure there is a local community benefits agreement that genuinely serves our communities’ best interest, that decommissioning costs are transparently addressed, and that the highest environmental protection standards are upheld. We recognize the potential of wind-hydrogen to strengthen Newfoundland and Labrador’s position as a North American leader in green energy production.
- Support the development of the Churchill River and the Gull Island project. However, given the information currently available, the proposed agreement with Quebec cannot be sup- ported in good conscience. We have no reason to be confident that the Liberal deal is, in fact, the best possible deal.
- There can be no deal without real transparency and that requires a truly independent re- view. We will immediately end the Liberals sham ‘review’ that they are running with one of their donors – and replace it with a truly independent review. The results of this process will be fully shared with the public.
- Based on this independent review we will demand better terms for Newfoundland and Labrador. We will use the review to fix what needs to be fixed and to ensure Newfoundland and Labrador gets a better deal.
- We will not proceed with any deal on the Churchill River unless it is approved by the voters via a referendum.