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Vale’s nickel processing facility in Long Harbour, Placentia Bay (which will process concentrate from the Voisey’s Bay mine in northern Labrador) is expected to employ more than 2,000 workers before the massive project is complete in 2013. “If the Voisey’s Bay mine goes underground it will also mean a big deal in terms of employment,” Locke says. “They (will) need more people and services as they go underground.”
Labrador also has great potential in terms of uranium (once the mining moratorium on development is lifted next year), as does the island of Newfoundland. In fact, Locke says there’s “great potential” in Newfoundland for overall mining. Ultimately, the long-term health of the mining sector depends on prices. “Market demand has to stay high,” says Locke. “Then we’re good.”
Powering Forward
The demand for clean, renewable energy isn’t expected to wane anytime soon. Which is where the proposed Lower Churchill development and its more than 3,000 megawatts of power come into play. Once it’s up and running, Locke believes the Lower Churchill will compete with the offshore oil and gas sector in terms of revenue and investment, although there’s no clear timeline for when the hydroelectric megaproject will get off the ground.
When the province announced in 2006 that it would develop the $6.5-billion Lower Churchill project on its own, it had been hoping to decide on feasibility in 2009, with first power being drawn as early as 2015. However, Williams and his government have encountered a series of setbacks. Assuming the project does move forward, Locke says Lower Churchill power probably won’t be transmitted through Quebec. Rather, he says the power will be transmitted through Labrador to Newfoundland, and then across the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Maritimes.
The Williams administration released the Lower Churchill Construction Projects Benefits Strategy in early July, outlining at least 21.5-million person hours of construction employment alone on the Lower Churchill project, as well as the Labrador-island transmission link. Once the Lower Churchill is off the ground and there’s a fixed transmission line, Locke says that will create opportunities for the development of other power sources, including wind and solar energy. “There are lots of possibilities in terms of energy that can be used as growth potential for the province, but they won’t manifest unless there’s some way to export that power to market.”
Ideas and Innovation
Locke says future growth in Newfoundland and Labrador may not happen the way it has in the past. “We need to think about whether we need an oil fund or heritage fund and how to spread benefits over time and across the province,” he says, adding the education system can be adjusted to meet the demand for skilled trades and other expertise as opportunities arise.
Further, research and development is creating “significant opportunities” at Memorial University. As an increasing level of R&D is carried out at the university, more professionals cluster with various specialties and expertise. “As the experts interact they create an environment for growth and innovation,” Locke says. “As a result of that you start coming up with ideas that otherwise wouldn’t have been thought of.”
Locke offers the example of professionals with sonar or acoustic experience in the oil and gas sector: “We used to have a real problem with whales caught in nets. If you’re an acoustic expert you might develop an acoustic tag put on nets to drive whales away.”
“The impact of human capital is hard to quantify, but there are spill-over effects,” he says. “There’s the role of education at the university, a prominent role in terms of facilitating people to become innovate and create business to generate activity.”
New Attitude
In his June speech to the Canadian Club of Ottawa, Williams said Newfoundland and Labrador has undergone a “dramatic transformation” over the past decade, marked by a turnaround in financial fortunes.
The country’s “coolest” province is also prepared to share the wealth.
“We want to create jobs; we want to help reduce green-house gases; we want to ensure Canadians have competitive power rates; we want to spur economic growth in other provinces.”
