It has been called a “boondoggle” by the man in charge.

The Muskrat Falls hydro megaproject, a massive dam and powerhouse harnessing the lower Churchill River near Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador, is not even yet complete.

But a public inquiry begins Monday on how its cost has already doubled to more than $12.7-billion – with the bill handed to a province of just 530,000 people, or fewer than the city of Brampton, Ont.

“Muskrat Falls in a small province with very little money is enormous,” said David Vardy, an economist and former chair of the Public Utilities Board who will testify at the hearings.

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The 824 megawatt hydroelectric dam, being developed by the Crown-owned Nalcor Energy, will eventually send power to Newfoundland and later Nova Scotia through subsea cables.

Former Tory premier Kathy Dunderdale spoke of the “lasting benefits to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador” when she announced that the province’s largest-ever public expenditure was officially sanctioned in December 2012.

But as construction delays and cost overruns mounted, current Liberal Premier Dwight Ball called it “the greatest fiscal mistake in Newfoundland and Labrador’s history,” and called the inquiry.

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