A3

By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

5 Comment(s)

There will be no referendum on the multibillion-dollar deal to sell most of the assets of NB Power to Hydro- Quebec, says Finance Minister Greg Byrne.

But the public will have lots of chances to have its say, he told The Daily Gleaner editorial board Thursday.

“I don’t believe that (a referendum) will be a course we will be moving forward with,” said Byrne.

He said the $10-billion deal is one of the biggest decisions made by a New Brunswick government.

But other big decisions such as equal opportunity and official bilingualism would probably not have been done if the provincial government of the time put them to a referendum, he said.

“Governments are elected to lead,” said Byrne.

He said next year is an election year and politically it would have been easier not to sell NB Power to Hydro- Quebec right now.

In terms of public feedback, the Liberal government is setting up an allparty committee to review the deal.

The legislature resumes Nov. 17 and the NB Power deal will undoubtedly be a major topic, said Byrne.

The finance minister said he expects to get lots of calls and emails on the subject.

“There will be an emotional attachment,” he said. “NB Power has long been part of our history.”

He said NB Power will still exist as a subsidiary of Hydro-Quebec.

New Brunswickers can call 1-800- 533-3086 or visit www.lowerratesnb.

ca to get more information and provide feedback on the proposed agreement.

Byrne also said that he thinks the public will understand why the Liberals are breaking their 2006 election promise not to sell NB Power.

“Certainly circumstances have changed significantly,” he said. “I think we were elected to protect the best interests of New Brunswickers.”

The deal is in the best interest of the province because it eliminates nearly $5 billion in public debt and future capital risk and freezes electricity rates for homeowners and lowers rates for industry, said Byrne.

“That issue will certainly be raised,” he said about the broken election promise. “We know the history of the comments that have been made by the party and by our leader and by our members in the past.”

Byrne said he doesn’t think the province would get a better price for NB Power if it tried to auction off the utility.

“If you put this agreement on the market, I would doubt that you would see any players other than Quebec willing to come to the table with the price we have obtained,” he said.

“With respect to the value of this, which is a $10-billion deal, I believe the experts will tell you this exceeds the value of the assets themselves.”

He said no other bids have come forward.

The scale, price and details of this deal were kept secret until Thursday Byrne declined to comment about what would happen if another competing bid for NB Power appeared.

He was asked if there was a negative side to the deal.

“We don’t believe there are downsides to it,” he said.

Byrne said the recession and the cost overruns at the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant weren’t the driving factors in the decision to sell NB Power.

He also said no individual business interest drove the deal.

“This was driven by the need to address the best, long-term interest of the province,” said Byrne.

The finance minister was asked what would happen to NB Power if Quebec separates from Canada at some point in the future.

“That is really speculative,” he replied.

“This deal actually promotes unity.”