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By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com

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The provincial government is making a mistake by slashing power rates for New Brunswick industry instead of taking cash from Hydro-Quebec and paying down the provincial debt, says Opposition energy critic Bruce Fitch.

"We could have taken that extra money, above and beyond the cost of the assets of NB Power, and reduced the net debt," he said Friday during question period.

"It would potentially free up $300 million (in interest payments) if we took another $5 billion and reduced the net debt by that amount."

That would provide more funding for important social programs in the province, he said. Or it could be used to provide financial assistance to industry, Fitch said.

The deal to sell most of the assets of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec for $4.75 billion and $5 billion in rate cuts continued to dominate question period at the legislature Friday.

Energy Minister Jack Keir insisted the deal will provide long-term benefits to industry and help low-income New Brunswickers by avoiding future rate hikes.

"We are going to grow industry in New Brunswick, create more jobs, grow the population and have a greater tax base in New Brunswick so that we can look after the most important social programs that we need and desperately require in New Brunswick," said Keir.

He also said the Opposition demanded a year ago the government do something to help industry struggling with high energy rates.

Opposition Leader David Alward asked how the government could sell NB Power based on a consultant's estimate of what would happen over the next 40 years.

"Even the former minister of finance, when we asked about projections for the self-sufficiency scheme and about indicators, said that if he were to do the 15-year projections, they would not be worth the paper they would be written on," he said.

But Keir said analysis shows that residential and small-business customers get 57 per cent of the benefit of the deal by the five-year mark.

"The fact of the matter is, that if the leader of the Opposition understands math, assumptions and compound savings over a long period of time, those savings will be with New Brunswickers forever," he said.

"The fact that we are freezing rates for that five-year period means that the savings from those five years will be there forever."

He said when the Tories were in power, rates rose 27.4 per cent and NB Power's debt rose 24.2 per cent.

The government also announced Friday that David Ganong, chairman of Ganong Bros. Ltd., will head up an independent advisory panel to review the planned energy deal.

The panel will look at financial implications, long-term affects on residential rates, the province's control of energy policy, short and long-term risks avoided, and benefits and costs to the provincial economy.

It will report to Premier Shawn Graham in mid-January and the report will be tabled in the legislative assembly.

Graham said the government is confident the sale of NB Power is a good deal.

"At the same time, we want to ensure the concerns of New Brunswickers are addressed," he said in a news release.

Ganong told The Daily Gleaner on Friday that he accepted the premier's offer to chair the panel because he wanted to learn as much as possible about the deal.

"This is a very important strategic decision for the province for the long term," he said. "I felt it was a way I could make a contribution back to the province."

Ganong said the panel is arranging a two-day orientation session that will tell the members how the deal evolved and who was involved, and answer questions from the panel members.

He said he expects the panel to meet many times in the next eight weeks to discuss the deal with experts.