The federal government agreed to pay $130 million to Abitibi for the mill and the hydroelectric assets which the province seized in the winter of 2008.
“I think it’s a fair compensation,” Williams told reporters. “These are mature parties here — the Government of Canada and a major corporation — that have agreed upon a price.”
Despite the fact that the province seized the assets, it was Ottawa who was facing a NAFTA challenge by Abitibi, and federal lawyers decided that a long, drawn-out legal saga would be more expensive than settling.
It will be the Government of Canada who pays the settlement.
Williams said that in a cordial conversation with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday, he was assured the federal government would not try to recoup that money from the province.
“As far as Ottawa is concerned, the prime minister has made it very clear that the Government of Canada is taking this liability,” Williams said. “If you’ve got a couple of days, I can tell you all the reasons why Newfoundland and Labrador is not being treated unfairly here.
“I think it’s a fair compensation.” - Premier Danny Williams
“We make a huge contribution to Canada, I’ve said it time and time again, through our natural resources and through everything we do.”
Opposition House Leader Kelvin Parsons said he’s glad the saga is over.
“We have to be very thankful, of course, to the federal government, because they just got us off the hook for $130 million,” he said. “I guess the question now is politically whether there will be any ramifications.”
On Wednesday, Williams acknowledged that things are far from finished with Abitibi. The province still needs to settle up with some of Abitibi’s minority partners.
There is also an ongoing legal battle over who will pay for the environmental cleanup of contaminated sites across the province, including the mill property in Grand Falls-Windsor.
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