PCs raising fear of Hydro sale as part of Liberal plan to ditch assets
PC leader Paul Davis is suggesting that a Liberal government under Dwight Ball may try to dump Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro as part of a plan to sell government assets, a charge that Ball dismissed as "fear-mongering."
"Mr. Ball has talked about liquidating [or] selling off $200 million worth of assets," said Davis in a news conference Thursday in front of Hydro facilities on Mount Scio Road in St. John's.
"He's talked about how he's going to create revenue for the province, but he won't say what assets he's going to sell," Davis said.
Davis harkened back to an effort by a previous Liberal administration, under Clyde Wells in 1993, in which people feared the government would privatize the Crown corporation, along with other agencies.
"And I ask Mr. Ball, is this one of the properties that you're planning to sell?"
Davis said $200 million is a lot of money.
"If he's going to sell assets, it has to be something big. Is he going to sell schools? Well, most of the school sites, former school sites in our province, are on church lands, and the buildings on those church lands are liabilities that the province owns."
'It has to be something big'
Davis said some unused assets pose problems. For example, Hoyles Escasoni, the former long-term care complex in St. John's, "needs a significant amount of remediation...that would cost likely more than the value of the land itself."
Davis also accused Ball of being "all over the place" when it comes to policies.
"He was quite clear that he would end the PC attrition plan and that he wouldn't have any job cuts, and then he went to yes there will be job cuts, and then he went back to no there wouldn't be job cuts, and now again he's saying there will be job cuts, so we really can't listen to Mr. Ball."
The PCs are clearly on the attack in the wake of polls that show the party is trailing the Liberals, with Davis repeating his accusation that Ball is saying "whatever it takes to get elected," without providing details.
"Share the list, tell the people of the province. If he wants to be a leader, he should stop talking about things he's not going to do and he should talk about what he will do."
Liberals respond
On Thursday, Dwight Ball denied any intention to sell the Hydro corporation or the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation.
"Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro is not one of the assets in this province that we're looking at selling, and Mr. Davis knows the difference in that," Ball said during a scrum with reporters.
"Mr. Davis is just fear-mongering again today, and this is something that he's been doing all of this week."
Ball said if his party forms government, the only assets that may be sold are ones that are not being used or could potentially save the government money, such as certain Crown lands or unused buildings — but not assets that actually bring in money for the province.
"We're not looking at revenue-generating assets. We look at this as any business would, any community would," he said.
"If there's something that's not being used, or not of value to this government —then we will look at moving it."
