NB Power | Premier takes questions from party faithful

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By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com

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Premier Shawn Graham faced tough questions about the deal to sell NB Power from his party members at a Liberal biannual policy convention in Fredericton on Saturday.

Drew Speight of Fredericton said he opposed the deal between NB Power and Hydro-Quebec.

He described it as "fraught with uncertainty and whatever its short-term benefits, it is not in the long-term best interest of New Brunswickers."

Speight questioned whether the province is getting the full value for NB Power.

He asked if a proper evaluation of NB Power has been done recently, including all its transmission lines and the value of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant after the refurbishment.

Speight recommended that any such evaluation be made public.

Three weeks ago, Graham signed a memorandum of understanding with Quebec Premier Jean Charest to sell NB Power to Hydro-Quebec for $4.75 billion in cash to pay off the utility's debt and $5 billion in rate relief for New Brunswickers.

The government has been defending the deal since then.

The official Opposition has raised the same evaluation questions recently about the deal to sell NB Power.

Bruce McCain of Fredericton asked if the government had looked at taking cash payments from Hydro-Quebec and investing the money in widespread energy retrofits rather than rate relief.

That would be a better deal in the long run, he said.

The deal to sell NB Power is supposed to close by March 31.

But Tom Gilbert of Burton said he had serious doubts about the deal and asked Graham to slow down and really study it.

"Let people get the full story," he said.

John McKay of Miramichi, a former Liberal MLA, said the deal seems to have pros and cons but his main concern was the promise by Graham in the 2006 election campaign not to sell NB Power.

"How do we get the people to release us from this commitment," he asked.

Larry DeLong of New Maryland asked Graham how the party is supposed to deal with all the emotions that have been stirred up by the proposed deal.

The question and answer session Saturday morning was supposed to last 90 minutes but ran two hours.

At the beginning of the session, Graham asked that questions about the NB Power deal only take up the first 30 minutes. But there were so many it lasted longer.

That's when he asked that questions about government policy - other than about the NB Power deal - be asked and many of the people waiting to speak at the microphones sat down.

At least a dozen people asked questions about the deal.

But while many party members had concerns about the deal, the questions remained polite and the mood was respectful.

Graham received several standing ovations from the crowd of 700 party faithful during the two-day event.

The premier said that when it came to breaking his promise not to sell NB Power, the elimination of the utility's debt and the rate relief for New Brunswickers was too good an opportunity to miss.

"I will be frank with you today," he said. "My opinion changed."

Energy Minister Jack Keir said a full evaluation of NB Power was done by top experts in the field.

"This wasn't a deal that was cooked up in a weekend," he said.

But Keir said he couldn't reveal the evaluation figures right now.

"We are in the middle of a $10-billion negotiation," he said.

Graham said those numbers would be made public after the deal was signed.

Not all the questions Saturday were about NB Power.

Sue Rickards of Lower Queensbury praised the government for its new anti-poverty strategy, which was released Friday.

"We believe this is going to make a way bigger change than any little power deal," she said. "It was a shining moment. Everyone should be proud of it."

After the meeting, Graham told reporters he was pleased with the question and answer session.

"This was the type of session we expected and wanted," he said. "They wanted to hear why we made this decision.

"I personally came away from this meeting very energized."

The agreement with Hydro-Quebec is expected to dominate the next session of the legislature, which opens Tuesday with a speech from the throne.