Via nottawa, a link to a story by Canadian Press that so far has eluded local news media.
Seems Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois is a wee bit fried that, as the PQ members of the legislature claim, Newfoundland will be stealing Quebec oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They attribute this to Premier Jean Charest’s supposed federalist-induced impotence.
The Quebec government imposed a moratorium on exploration in the Gulf. Meanwhile, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board approved this week plans to explore the part of the Old Harry field that is within the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore area.
Also via nottawa, you can find a few choice excerpts from the PQ questions in the Quebec National Assembly. Like take this bit from Pauline Marois:
Il me semble que, si le premier ministre est vraiment sérieux, cultiver l'économie du Québec, appuyer l'économie du Québec, la première chose à faire, c'est, à tout le moins, de faire respecter nos droits, de nous défendre à Ottawa. On est en train de laisser Terre-Neuve piller nos ressources, voler notre pétrole, M. le Président...
Basically she says that if Charest were serious about developing the Quebec economy, he’d be protecting the province’s interests in Ottawa. Instead, he is “letting Newfoundland pillage our resources, [and] steal our oil…”.
or this bit:
Mr. Speaker, the Premier of Quebec,offers us a pretty sad spectacle. He is absolutely incapable of responding to my questions and above all responding to the people of Quebec, who are very upset by the fact that this government does not defend us while Newfoundland is in the process of exploiting and exploring in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We're going to assume the risks, and Newfoundland the benefits…
For his part, Charest noted – among other things - that Marois called for a moratorium in August and now attacks the idea. The whole exchange makes for some very interesting reading.
- srbp -
Only Chips With My Fish Update: In a post at labradore, you can find a comparison of the oddly similar rhetoric used by the Old Man hisself earlier this year and the Parti Quebecois energy critic in the National Assembly. Apparently both were concerned with betrayal and taking sides.