It's Day 2 of four

It's Day 2 of four-day special Churchill River sitting in House of Assembly

Special debate began Monday with MHA crossing the floor

It’s the second day of a special four-day sitting in the House of Assembly focused on the new Churchill River agreement.

Today's session begins at 10 a.m. NT with questions directed at expert guests, beginning with officials from Natural Resources Canada. Questioning will continue throughout the day, with Power Advisory and JP Morgan in the afternoon, and the negotiating team in the evening.

A 30-minute question period will also get underway at 8:30 p.m.

Debate began Monday with floor crossing

The special debate began on Monday with Lake Melville MHA Keith Russell crossing the floor to sit as an independent member. He told the legislature that he was acting in the best interests of the district that he represents in Labrador. Russell would not do an interview with CBC.

As the session proceeded, Energy Minister Lloyd Parrott emphasized his position that the new deal is superior to the MOU that was negotiated under the former Liberal administration in 2024 — calling critics of the new deal “do-nothings.”

Energy critic Fred Hutton expressed doubt, saying that he does not have trust in the process or the people involved in the new agreement.

Lead negotiator for the new agreement, Barry Perry, responded by saying he believes it would be a mistake to reject this deal, considering that Quebec was pushing for the length of the new power sales agreement to be stretched to 65 years instead of 50. He said this province's negotiators refused to do that.

Perry also emphasized the differences between the new agreement and the 1969 Churchill Falls contract – stating that he finds it disturbing that the two are being considered similar by critics.

The new agreement, called the Definitive Cooperation and Implementation Agreement, or DCIA, includes plans for a new Churchill Falls power sales contract with Quebec, the development of Gull Island, construction of new transmission infrastructure in Labrador, and a study of possible wind development.

The special sitting is scheduled to continue through Thursday, after which the legislature will vote on a final resolution.

CBC will have more as the special sitting progresses.

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Abby Cole is a journalist with CBC News in St. John's. She can be reached at abby.cole@cbc.ca.

With files from Ashley Fitzpatrick and Terry Roberts