Inquiry into Muskrat Falls overruns to begin in January

A public inquiry into how the Muskrat Falls hydro project in Labrador went billions of dollars over budget will report by Dec. 31, 2019 — just after the next provincial election.

Interim NDP Leader Lorraine Michael said Monday the governing Liberals had other options.

“A forensic audit in and of itself can get an awful lot of answers much more quickly than this full review,” she said after Premier Dwight Ball announced hearings will start in January. “I don’t know why from the beginning they’ve refused to do that.”

Ball said Richard LeBlanc, the provincial Supreme Court judge who will lead the independent inquiry, deemed the timeline necessary. No price tag for the process was available Monday.

LeBlanc has the power to order a forensic audit if he sees fit but his terms of reference are much broader, Ball told a news conference.

“While we cannot undo the past we can learn from it,” he said. “Muskrat Falls is on the minds of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, deservedly so. Today marks the start of getting the answers.”

The $12.7-billion project — which will also provide energy to Nova Scotia through the underwater Maritime Link — has almost doubled in cost with financing since it was approved five years ago.

Full power is not expected until 2020, about two years behind schedule. Electricity rates are expected to double for consumers by 2022, which Ball says is an “unacceptable” burden he’s working to mitigate.

The inquiry will examine how the Labrador project was approved and executed, and why it was exempt from oversight by the Public Utilities Board. LeBlanc is to make recommendations but will not make findings of criminal or civil responsibility.

Ball said Monday the governing Liberals inherited the project from the previous Progressive Conservative government which approved it.

Former premier Danny Williams announced it with fanfare in 2010 before leaving politics.

Williams has continued to defend Muskrat Falls as an asset that will pay dividends over the next 50 years. “It is my hope that not only will the project’s alleged deficiencies be carefully examined but also that we might see the positive aspects highlighted for a complete and balanced picture,” he said Monday in a statement.

Ball said LeBlanc can compel evidence and subpoena witnesses. The premier also said he’ll provide his government’s cabinet documents, but it remains to be seen if efforts to analyze previous Tory government confidential records are challenged.

“We have nothing to hide,” said Opposition House Leader Keith Hutchings, who served in the Williams government. “What we did was (in) ... good faith and the recommendation and information that was made available to us.”