Swift N.L., Que. reaction to Harper's hydro endorsement

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale says a campaign promise from Stephen Harper was the commitment she was looking for from Ottawa.

The federal Conservative leader told a rally in St. John's Thursday that if re-elected a Conservative federal government would provide a loan guarantee for the Lower Churchill project, contingent on three conditions.

Those conditions are the project must have national or regional importance, it must have economic and financial merit andit must significantly reduce greenhouse gases.

Dunderdale said she has sent letters to the Liberal and NDP leaders, asking if they'll make the same promise.

"I have a letter going to Mr. Ignatieff early in the week, as well as to Mr. Layton asking for their endorsement and the promise of a loan guarantee as well," she said Thursday.

Dunderdale told reporters she's confident Harper will be re-elected and she said it's a promise she doesn't need in writing.

The Liberal candidate in the eastern Newfoundland riding of Avalon, Scott Andrews, said his leader has already committed to the loan guarantee without any conditions.

Andrews is warning Dunderdale to be careful about supporting the Conservative leader.

"We'll see what Stephen Harper decides to do. When you look at his past performance on commitments to Newfoundland and Labrador, they're pretty thin. And Newfoundlanders and Labradorians simply don't trust him," said Andrews.

Political leaders in Quebec are speaking out against Harper's lower Churchill commitment.

Thursday Bloc Qubcois leader Gilles Duceppe described it as "a slap in the face," and Quebec intergovernmental affairs minister, Pierre Moreau, said it's unfair because Hydro-Quebec has received no such support from Ottawa.

"We are opposed to federal financing on this issue, because it would change the balance of the price on which we sell electricity on the international market," he said

The opposition Parti Qubcois is demanding that Quebec's provincial government retaliate.