The people of Newfoundland appear to be the losers after negotiations to develop the Hebron Ben Nevis oil field collapsed last week, according to respondents in this week’s CEO poll. Asked to say whether the oil companies, the Premier, Canadians, or Newfoundlanders will be hurt the hardest by the breakdown, a plurality picked the people of the Rock.

Respondents were asked a series of questions about whether Premier Danny Williams was right or wrong to play hardball, who won, and the extent to which the Premier may have been influenced by the precedents of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, who took over French and Italian oil company operations. On balance, members of the business panel do not think Chavez was much of a factor but they don’t think he was entirely a non-factor either.

The only perspective shared by most panelists is that the ghost of Churchill Falls haunted negotiations. A more than two-thirds majority agreed at least partly that memory of the ignominious Labrador power deal made “it very difficult for any Newfoundland government to act sensibly on mega-projects.”

On all other aspects of the breakdown in talks, Canada’s business leaders were uncertain or divided. Over 50% were undecided about who won from the breakdown in talks. Panelists were either for or against Williams’ hardball stance depending upon which aspect of the negotiations they were asked about.

These are the key findings from this past week’s survey of the CEO and business leader panel for The Financial Post under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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