ST. JOHN’S – An accountant who quit a panel overseeing energy negotiations between the electric utilities of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec says the public should be able to read his full resignation letter.
Mike Wilson said Wednesday he is unable to share the letter himself because he signed a non-disclosure agreement. However, he called on the panel’s chair to encourage the Newfoundland and Labrador government to release the unredacted text of his resignation letter, which he submitted May 12.
The former EY executive has previously said he resigned because the panel was not serving the public as intended.
“Releasing my letter would demonstrate transparency and enable the public to make an informed decision,” Wilson said in a statement to reporters on Wednesday.
Hydro-Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro are negotiating final agreements of a draft energy deal unveiled in December. The Liberals established the panel in January, as a condition for the NDP and Independent members of the legislature to accept the memorandum of understanding and proceed with talks toward final agreements.
The Opposition Progressive Conservatives have criticized the panel, saying its chair, Dennis Browne, is a longtime Liberal supporter. Leader Tony Wakeham has promised to have an independent third party review the draft energy agreement if the Tories win the provincial election expected next month.
The tentative agreement would see Hydro-Québec pay a forecasted $33.8 billion for power over the next 50 years from the Churchill Falls plant in Labrador and lead new projects along the Churchill River.
Wilson said earlier this month he believes Newfoundland and Labrador could get a better deal. He questioned the panel’s independence and said its quarterly reports would not meet the public’s expectations.
On Wednesday, Wilson said neither he nor Browne, who is also the province’s consumer advocate, could release his resignation letter because of a non-disclosure agreement. “However, if it is truly (Browne’s) opinion there was no impairment of the independence of the panel, he could encourage the government to release my letter to the public,” Wilson said.
When asked for comment, Browne pointed to a previous statement, which said the panel’s public reports do not disclose its recommendations and findings “due to the commercial confidentiality of ongoing negotiations.”
Wilson said he was not aware of any commercially sensitive information in his resignation letter.
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador pointed to access-to-information laws protecting the “disclosure of information harmful to intergovernmental relations or negotiations, and financial or economic interests of the province,” when asked if it would release Wilson’s letter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2025.
