Shareholders deserve answers on Muskrat Falls

A column written by Pam Frampton in the Aug. 5th Weekend Telegram has prompted me to write to you.

In Ms. Frampton’s column, “Muskrat Falls and the politics of mistrust,” she writes about a book she’s reading about megaprojects being sold to politicians and citizens to benefit a few companies and well-placed executives.

In a previous letter to the editor, June 26, 2016, I wrote about the citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador being the shareholders of Nalcor. As a shareholder, I asked the following questions, but as is par for the course with Nalcor and this government, no answers were provided.

I believe these questions are still relevant and repeat them below:

1) What would be the projected cost to taxpayers/shareholders should this megaproject be abandoned immediately?

2) What would be the difference in financial liability, interest costs, federal loan guarantee, signed contracts, etc., if the construction stopped as compared to its continuation?

3) Would it be possible to restart the project at a later date and at what cost to us?

4) If the Muskrat Falls project were to cease, would the laws that have been passed to support the project be rescinded so that other means of electrical generation might be purchased?

5) If this megaproject were to cease, what would be the continued purpose of Nalcor and the outlandish salaries of the executive of the company?

I still want answers to these questions in a manner in which everyone would understand.

John Reade St. John’s