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Sale should be election issue

To The Editor:

Normally I do my best to stay away from politics but I find the recently announced deal with Quebec Hydro compelled me to say something.

First, I read with interest your recent editorials but believe they are based mainly on the "pros" and very little on the "cons" associated with this deal.

It is important to note that many of us who have major problems with this deal have been long-time supporters of the Liberal Party in this province and have been supportive of the current premier for some time. This has not been painless since it has been difficult to support the current government in a large number of instances.

I personally believe that should this deal be finalized -- and it will be, given the majority the Liberal Party now commands -- that many long-time Liberals will change colours quickly.

Perhaps minority governments at both the federal and provincial levels are the way to proceed in all instances.

It is not time yet to "sell the farm" due to debt. Many provinces are in debt, this is not news to us.

You are correct when you say that Premier Williams is not protecting New Brunswick's interests, but his own. It is fair to say that Premier William's interests are those of Newfoundland and Labrador and that is where they should be.

I am, for the first time, unsure of our own premier's interests. Perhaps he just wants to be remembered in history regardless. This is more important than a thousand toll roads in my opinion.

This is a topic better dealt with at election time.

Ron Whitehead,

Salisbury

Angered by NB Power sale

To The Editor:

As a citizen of New Brunswick I am so angry about the sale of NB Power to Quebec Hydro that I can hardly sit down long enough to write this letter. It all seems to hinge on the "debt" that they "seem" to have.

I have a few questions to pose about this:

1. How can a company that has a debt post a profit as they have in the last couple of years?

2. How can a company contract another to perform work and, when they do not, have no penalties?

Years ago I worked at Point Lepreau and it was like working at a wild west show: anything went, whatever the cost. I later found out it was called a "cost plus project," meaning the contracts that companies had were open-ended. They would put in a bid for X number of dollars and at the end of the day if their work ended up going over by another X number of dollars, good old NB Power would just sign the cheque anyway.

I see the reputation of NB Power is still the same today, charge what you want, work when you want, drop our equipment in the bay, who cares, we'll just sign another cheque. Well damn it! I care. I'm sick of seeing this waste and mismanagement. Now they're telling us all our problems will be solved by selling to Quebec!

I was even home on Sunday when someone phoned to ask me questions in a poll they were taking, for whom they couldn't say, but all the questions were geared to give a positive spin on this sale to Quebec. "You" could NOT give your opinion, and it was slanted to say the Newfoundland government was sticking their noses into our business.

It strikes me that they have every right to point out how something we do may affect them, just like we did when they were looking to put a pipeline through our province.

If every person out there would think about this; there are three "people" in this transaction. 1. The Province of Quebec; are they out to be our best friends because they're the feel good province of Canada and all of a sudden want to adopt their "French" brothers and sisters who five years ago they couldn't care less about? 2. The governments of both provinces, who are the ones who have their big mugs in the papers since this deal has been announced. 3. The citizens of New Brunswick.

Look who has the least to gain in this business transaction.

C'mon, let's follow all those guys over there! There must be a reason why they're all running off the cliff!

Mary Robichaud,

Moncton