Former Premier Danny Williams has fired back at Justice Richard Leblanc’s scathing report into the mega-project.

In a lengthy written statement, Williams says that despite assertions made in Leblanc’s report, the Muskrat Falls project was launched after six years of “thoughtful, detailed and thorough analysis.”

Williams believes there is a level of hindsight bias present in the report, and that there is evidence which Leblanc either “ignored” or just chose not to include.

As an example of this, Williams points to the report suggesting that government was “intent” on moving ahead with Muskrat Falls at any cost. Williams counters that government making a decision to proceed with the project doesn’t mean the final outcome was a foregone conclusion, saying “this defies logic.”

Williams calls the insinuation that elected officials ever intentionally jeopardized the well-being of the people of the province “deeply offensive”.

He says that in the report, Leblanc does note some of the positive impacts of the project, but to “brush past” them does a great disservice citizens of the province.

Williams ends by calling for an end to the politicization of the project, and for people to come together and be proud of our Churchill River developments and “not diminish them as we are the envy of the world.”

Williams’ statement follows similar comments made by former Nalcor CEO Ed Martin yesterday.

Williams’ full statement can be read below.



