Williams adds fuel to anti-Quebec campaign

Newfoundland and Labrador PremierDanny Williams has called Premier Jean Charest's Quebec government bad for Canada.

In a speech Wednesday to the St. John's Board of Trade, Williams accused Quebec officials of hypocrisy and blasted Charest for opposing Newfoundland and Labrador's attempts to develop the Lower Churchill hydroelectric megaproject.

"The rest of the country and even Quebec itself is finally admitting that it has been getting away with highway robbery in Canada for decades," Williams said.

Williams lashed out at the opposition he has faced in obtaining access to Quebec's power grid for the proposed Lower Churchill project in central Labrador.

In May, Newfoundland and Labrador's energy corporation, Nalcor,failed to win a case with Quebec regulators on a complaint that Hydro-Qubec was not following open access rules that govern the fair use of transmission lines.

Since then, Newfoundland and Labrador has been working with Nova Scotia on moving Lower Churchill power through the Maritimes.

Williams was outraged to learn this summerthat Quebec had written to the federal government, objecting to a bid from Newfoundland and Labradorand Nova Scotiafor funding under a national infrastructure program.

"I thought, and perhaps all of us thought, that it was only the separatist Bloc Qubcois that believed in elevating Quebec by undermining the workings of the federation," Williams said.

"It's not."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said the bid by the two Atlantic provinces will be judged on its own merits, regardless of what any other province has to say.

Anger at Quebec

Even so, Williams directed more of his anger at Quebec, effectively depicting it as a province that soaks up billions of dollars in equalization, while crying foul when others turn to Ottawa for help.

"This is only the tip of the iceberg of the special deals that Quebec citizens and enterprises receive from the government and the people of Canada, including multibillion dollars [in] subsidies to the aerospace industry," Williams said.

Williams has made a habit of turning his differences with other politicians and governments into public spectacles. He said his current dispute with Charest will involve a new, aggressive approach.

Newfoundland and Labrador has had a long-standing grievance with Quebec over the 65-year contract of the existing Upper Churchill hydroelectric development.

The contract allows Quebec to buy power from Newfoundland and Labradorat rates fixed decades ago, and then sell it for many times that price.

Williams said Wednesday that while Quebec took in revenues of $2.3 billion last year from Upper Churchill sales, Newfoundland and Labrador collected only $50 million.