On October 29, 2009, the premiers of New Brunswick and Quebec signed a deal that would transfer most of the assets of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec. In exchange, NB would get access to cheap hydro power from the neighbouring province, and it's debt of $4.8 billion would eliminate. This sparked the NB public. Since the news was released, there has since been a strong movement across NB to stop the proposed deal.

On January 20, 2010, a new deal was drafted as a direct result of the strong public pressure. The new deal came with a smaller price tag and the major change was keeping the transmission company and distribution company in the hands of the NB government. The hydroelectric dams in NB would still be sold to Hydro-Quebec under the revised deal, as would the Point Lepreau generating station after the refurbishment has been completed by NB Power--an uncertain project which has already long past it's budget and timeline.

As it stands, NB Power has a debt of $4.8 billion. This has been the main issue that supporters of the deal often point to. "There's huge debt associated with NB Power," Graham told a caller during a recent CBC phone-in program. "This transaction today eliminates that debt for future generations."  This debt is large, but whether it is an issue for concern is definitely debatable--though you won't hear that side from the major NB newspapers. This debt is largely investment debt. With the current refurbishment of the Point Lepreau generating station and the investment in new transmission lines last year, it's altogether reasonable for the company to have its current level of debt. NB Power is also a highly profitable buisiness as a fourth year business student in Fredericton points out in this video. So it could be argued that this investment debt is not really a problem and could be paid off if managed properly.

The major winners in both deals are Hydro-Quebec and large-scale businesses in NB. The Irving group of companies consist of many of these large-scale businesses, and the Irving family has a near monopoly on media in the province "The Irving family owns every English language daily paper in NB and every  community paper except two. They own four radio stations, the Brunswick News wire service, which distributes local news to the national papers. They also own a news website called canadaeast.com". As a result, the media that reaches most NBers is very biased and not a representation of what would be best for the vast majority of people in the province.

With both deals, there has been a great deal of secrecy. The details of the agreements were vague and most citizens were unsure or deliberately mislead about the implications of the deals. With the deal set to come into effect on March 31, this is a very troubling scenario. Once this deal has gone through, there will be no going back. The public has the right to fully understand the implications of a deal as critical to their everyday lives as this one. 

There has been massive outcry from the NB public regarding this deal. Meetings have been organized in communities across the province, protests have been organized--and attracted huge crowds, and people have been able to get both sides of the issue through the help of the internet and grassroots efforts. A vigil is set for tomorrow night, January 28, for the death of democracy in NB and participants will make their way to the Aitken Center for the Sate of the Province address.

In her presentation on the issue--Bethany Thorne-Dykstra, president of Put NB People First--brought up the need for a referendum on this issue. Through section 8-C of Bill 24, it states the ways that a referendum can be held on issues in which public opinion is a matter of importance. The decision to hold this referendum could be made by the cabinet. Few things are as important as electricity is for our lives. Everything from heating our homes to running our economy relies on it and for this reason it is an issue which deserves to be treated democratically.

Whether this deal gets implemented on March 31 is still to be decided. One thing that is certain is that the people of NB should be making the decision on an issue this important. Though Shawn Graham says time an time again that he wants to listen to the public on this issue, I frankly just don't believe him and don't think we should leave it up to this government to make this decision for the people of New Brunswick.