New N.L. premier releases resignation note from man who quit Quebec energy deal panel

ST. JOHN’S – Newfoundland and Labrador’s new premier has published a resignation letter from an accountant who quit a panel overseeing the province’s energy negotiations with Quebec’s hydro utility, defying the former Liberal government’s choice to keep the note hidden.

A day after he was sworn into office, Progressive Conservative Premier Tony Wakeham on Thursday posted Mike Wilson’s note online, saying the public had a right to see it. The Liberals had refused to release the letter, pointing to laws protecting information that could harm negotiations.

Ahead of the Oct. 14 election, Wilson was among several high-profile people in the province saying the Liberals could have gotten a better deal. The draft agreement was a major plank in the Liberal’s election campaign. However, Wakeham vowed to have the deal reviewed and said better terms were possible. His Tories won a slim majority, claiming 21 of 40 seats in the legislature.

“Newfoundlanders and Labradorians deserve access to the information that informs decisions affecting our province,” Wakeham said in a news release about his decision to release the resignation letter. “I remain committed to open and honest communication as we move forward.”

The former Liberal government established the review panel earlier this year. It was a compromise with the NDP and Independent members, who had been calling for an independent third party to scrutinize the draft deal with Hydro-Québec.

The memorandum of understanding would see Hydro-Québec pay a forecasted $38 billion for power from the Churchill Falls station in Labrador over the next 50 years. The utility would also lead new developments along the Churchill River with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.

Wilson’s letter, dated May 12, outlines several grievances, including that a top civil servant with the Liberal government told the three-person panel how to operate. Wilson said he felt the instruction was inappropriate since the panel was supposed to be independent from government. He also said the government made the scope of the panel’s work too narrow.

After confirming the panel’s mandate with government lawyers, Wilson said he signed his contract. But after the group had begun its work, the clerk of the executive council sent the panel a letter outlining a narrower interpretation of its mandate.

The clerk’s directive would leave the panel unable to complete a robust review of the draft agreement, he said in his letter. 

Wilson refused a request for an interview Thursday.

The situation is a scandal of the Liberals’ own making, said political scientist Russell Williams, an associate professor of political science at Memorial University in St. John’s. If the former Liberal government had ordered a proper independent review of the tentative agreement in the first place, they would have avoided the “continuing set of scandals” that arose from Wilson’s resignation, he said.

“None of this needed to happen,” Williams said. “A proper independent assessment would release the government from ever getting into any of these criticisms.”

Wilson’s letter was not the salacious indictment some may have expected, Williams added. But it did show there were problems in the oversight process the Liberals had promised.

“As we always like to say, good process is good policy,” he said.

On Friday, the Liberals took aim at Wilson and the contents of his letter, saying he led the public to believe it was about the energy deal negotiations. 

“As can be seen in the letter, the letter simply details Mr. Wilson’s misunderstanding of his mandate as a member of the independent oversight panel,” said party leader John Hogan, who was premier until this month’s election.

The Canadian Press asked why the Liberals withheld the letter in the first place, given that it did not provide details about the negotiations. The party did not immediately respond.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2025.