Ignatieff visits; Graham talks power

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan  

The Liberal Biennial Convention was held at the Fredericton Inn this past weekend, and the hot topic of the convention was the sale of NB Power.

Michael Ignatieff, Official Leader of the Opposition, paid a visit to the Maritimes to attend the event. When asked about the deal at a media scrum on the first day of the biennial, Ignatieff responded that it wasn’t his issue.

“That’s a provincial matter,” he responded. “Shawn Graham doesn’t get asked about Afghanistan, and I don’t get asked about provincial matters.

“It’s important that New Brunswickers have their say, that the details come out and there’s a full public debate,” he added.

On Saturday, Nov. 14, the NB Power discussion and General Accountability talk took place. Microphones were set up in the audience, and the province’s Liberals were given an opportunity to pose their questions to Premier Shawn Graham.

Graham pre-ambled the question and answer period with a speech outlining his thoughts on the MOU between New Brunswick’s utility and Hydro Quebec, which, contingent on legislation, stipulates that NB Power will be sold for $4.75 billion.

“By making this debt payment,” he said, “we are releasing future generations of New Brunswickers from debt.”
The Premier then related a situation where a young single mother approached him and told him not to drop the deal for the sake of people in situations like hers.

A number of questions were asked on topics ranging from Point Lepreau to energy efficiency.

Answers largely reiterated Graham’s belief that debt would be eliminated and rates lowered if the deal goes through.

A few things were cleared up, however. Energy Minister Jack Keir said that the province “will not be giving up energy policy decisions to Quebec.“

Plans for more wind power are also in the works, and it was said that these plans will be a “transparent process.”

One audience member brought up the projected $5 billion in rate savings expected for the next five years after the deal goes through. Instead of rate cuts, the young man posited, which are not the same thing as energy efficiency, how about focusing more attention on initiatives like retrofitting houses?

Graham responded by saying that other provinces have sold their utilities, and wrapped up by saying that “we’re the only political party offering the option to fix rates and debt going up.”

The man who asked the question responded that his question had not been answered.

Another man questioned the value being put on the utility, saying we’re selling Lepreau for less than it’s worth, and that Quebec is then obtaining the rest of the assets essentially for free. He wanted to know if a fresh appraisal of the assets was conducted, why or why not, and if so, why the info has not been made available.

Keir responded that that the total evaluation for NB Power is $3.3-$4.1 billion, and that he has been briefed on that by the Department of Finance prior to the weekend. This deal, he said, has taken many months to work out, and was not “a weekend thing over a beverage.”

“There will be a full transparency process when the deal is finalized,” he said.

“We weren’t going to start a debate until we had a deal to debate,” Graham said.

Graham also addressed Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams’ comments against the deal.

“Williams is using the province of New Brunswick as an opportunity to get a better deal for himself with Quebec,” he said.

After several other questions, the subject was changed from NB Power concerns to the Liberals’ poverty reduction initiative. The tone of the convention changed, and the MPs, MLAs and Premier were all congratulated by the audience.