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Re: Sale of NB Power

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On Oct. 29, I received a message at work from Premier Shawn Graham.

It was the first message I have ever received from a premier.

I expect that every single provincial civil servant received the same message extolling the virtues of the proposed agreement with Hydro-Quebec.

How odd that he should have chosen this topic as the subject of his first effort to reach out to employees. Among other things, Premier Graham told us that this is "an opportunity that should be seized for the good of our province and everybody who calls it home."

He talked about the benefits of eliminating the utility's debt, but then pointed out that the debt was incurred in part "because of the modernization and maintenance of our electrical infrastructure" (all paid for by the taxpayers of New Brunswick).

It seems we have incurred this massive debt in order to make the operation efficient and attractive for a takeover by another power company/province. If this organization was so inefficient, why was there not more effort made to increase its efficiency?

Could the time invested in coming up with this deal not have been better spent in improving the efficiency of NB Power?

This morning on the radio, I heard Premier Graham warning us that we better accept the deal by March or face a "three per cent rate increase." That's patronizing. Does he really think we will have any control over rate increases if the utility is sold to Quebec?

Then I heard Premier Charest of Quebec assure us that if the deal goes through, Quebec will realize that it is part of Canada and will not choose separation in the future. It seems to me that conclusion might be a little simplistic.

Selling a province's natural resources is never a good idea.

If Hydro-Quebec wants our power, and our corridor through to the States, let them lease the power and pay monthly rights to the corridor.

Johanna Bertin

Smithfield, N.B.

Please return his prized possession

Re: Stolen bicycle

I am writing in hopes that the person(s) responsible for stealing my 10-year-old son's bicycle will read this and return it.

I am a single mother who moved to the Hanwell Road four months ago by the Greenwood Trailer Park. Imagine answering my son's question of why someone would steal his bike.

My son purchased the bike with money he had saved. He chose this $250 bicycle because it had disc brakes.

The bike was purchased after we moved here so the bike was less than four months old.

He usually brought the bicycle in nightly, but for some unknown reason, had left the bicycle out the night it disappeared, which was by our back door.

I'm hoping those responsible will have some regrets and return his prized possession.

If not, I hope that someday this person has a child of their own and will hopefully teach him or her better morals than what they have.

Hayley Anderson

Fredericton

Should a single corporation control the flow of energy to half of Canada?

Re: Sale of NB Power

The following letter was sent to federal members of Parliament, several members of the Canadian Senate, the premier of New Brunswick and the Federal Competition Bureau.

Consider that if this purchase is allowed to proceed, overnight five of Canada's 10 provinces will become completely dependent on a single corporation for their ability to import or export electrical energy both inside and outside of the Canadian border.

The remaining Canadian provinces, Ontario and east, will be forced to pay power prices set by that same corporation for any power they might wish to purchase from the Canadian east.

Is this the sort of business climate the governments of Canada and its provinces, other than Quebec, really want to foster for the future of the nation?

Some have argued that even after such a purchase, the rates that can be charged to wheel power across Hydro-Quebec's grid will be set by regulators, not by the corporation itself.

This is true, but this argument is a false one. The very ability to wheel power through Hydro-Quebec's grid, at any price, will depend on the corporation's willingness to invest in the infrastructure capacity that will permit its competitors to access the grid.

In other words, true competitive freedom will no longer exist and market access will not be possible without Hydro-Quebec's willingness to permit it.

Putting all politics and rhetoric aside, the question that needs to be answered is a simple one: Should a single corporation, no matter where it's located, be permitted to completely control the flow of energy from half of Canada's provinces into the other half of Canada and beyond?

Myles Higgins

Portugal Cove, NL

Higher rates preferable to selling the farm

Re: Sale of NB Power

No! No! No!

We must not allow Shawn Graham (or anyone else) to put the future of our power supply in the hands of Hydro-Quebec.

Oh, the deal looks very attractive on the surface - bring industry on line by offering lower rates; bring the voters on line by offering slightly lower, and frozen, rates for the next five years. But then what?

Hydro-Quebec has previously proven its skills at negotiation. It managed to shaft Newfoundland and Labrador to the tune of several billion and did it right under Danny Williams' nose.

Make no mistake about it, Hydro-Quebec is not in business to supply power to consumers: it is in business for one purpose only - to make money, and it does that very well.

It will not lay out several billion without the sure knowledge that it will recoup it all within the foreseeable future.

Oh yes, some of that will be accomplished by routing power through New Brunswick to the USA but, if you are not ready for a big increase in your rates after the end of the five year moratorium, then you are in for a nasty surprise.

The Graham government used consultants to advise on this deal. It would be interesting to know the terms of reference for those consultants. Those terms should have included consideration of alternatives to the outright sale of NB Power, but I bet they did not.

Surely some brilliant mind could come up with a plan whereby Hydro-Quebec gets what it wants most (access to the US market) and pays handsomely for the privilege.

I know that, failing some such deal, we will have to pay higher rates in order to bail out NB Power, but I believe that is preferable to "selling the farm" to an outfit based in another province, particularly one with the separatist aspirations of many Quebecois.

Hands off NB Power, Messrs. Graham and Charest.

Sam Mullin

Fredericton