CORNER BROOK, Newfoundland — A $22-million deal between the provincial government and paper giant Kruger has been in effect since Feb. 1, though the first scant details of it were not released until last Friday afternoon as the provincial government headed into the St. Patrick’s Day long weekend. The province — through Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro — had been paying for electricity from Kruger’s hydroelectric dam at Deer Lake for six weeks by the time Kruger sent a news release saying a deal had been reached between the two parties. Kruger has been mired in financial trouble since at least November, when it had to shut down operations at the Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Mill for a week. At the time, Premier Andrew Furey pledged his support for the 300 workers who were temporarily out of work. …This isn’t the first time the province has stepped in to help the struggling newsprint mill.