McNeil: Premier Must Answer Questions Left Unanswered By Deputy Minister
Liberal leader Stephen McNeil says statements made to the press by the energy deputy minister leave many questions unanswered and the premier needs to fill in the blanks.
“The deputy minister wrote the UARB and guaranteed that neither customers nor Stern Partners would have to pay incremental costs associated with the NewPage biomass facility,” says McNeil. “He made this comment without providing any proof to support his claim or any background information – the public needs to know more.”
McNeil says someone will pay for the costs associated with the plant if ratepayers or Stern aren’t the ones paying.
“The costs aren’t going to disappear – someone will have to pay,” says McNeil. “Is the Dexter government planning to use tax dollars to pay for the incremental costs?”
McNeil says we also need to know if an unofficial agreement has been reached and what role the province will take.
“Is the province planning on taking an ownership interest in the biomass facility?” asked McNeil. “If there is an unofficial agreement in place, why isn’t the premier telling Nova Scotians now?”
“Nova Scotians need to know if they are going to subsidize Nova Scotia Power, they need to know if an agreement exists, and they need to know what the government’s role will be – if the province knows something, they need to share it with the public and answer the questions raised by the deputy minister’s comments.”
-30-
Subscribe to our mailing list, by CLICKING HERE.
Back
