Renewed Atlantic Accord
April 1, 2019
The Honourable Dwight Ball, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, was joined by the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Indigenous Services for the Government of Canada, to announce an agreement that ensures Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are the principal beneficiaries of their offshore resources, strengthens how those resources are developed through joint management, and will also achieve electricity rate mitigation.
The agreement includes:
A new and guaranteed revenue stream that will deliver $2.5 billion to the province.
This revenue stream will immediately reduce the provincial net debt by $2.5 billion, or by approximately $5,000 for every Newfoundlander and Labradorian. In total, the provincial net debt decreases by 16 per cent, and savings on interest will be worth approximately $100 million by 2056.
Cash installments starting this year until 2056 have no restrictions on the use of the funds and are “front end loaded,” with approximately $1.9 billion, or 60 per cent, being received by 2030.
The revenue stream is from the Federal Government’s equity interest in the Hibernia project;
A federal commitment to strengthen the joint management of Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore development in areas such as land tenure, worker safety, regulatory efficiency, and regulator modernization; and
A federal commitment to further engage with Newfoundland and Labrador to expeditiously examine the financial structure of the Muskrat Falls Project, so that the province can achieve rate mitigation. To that end, the Federal Minister of Finance will travel to Newfoundland and Labrador to meet with the Premier on Friday, April 5 to advance this work.
Through this agreement, Newfoundland and Labrador will continue to receive 100 per cent of its offshore resource revenues as if these resources were on land.
