Vote NDP to Save NBPower

October 28, 2009

Roger Duguay: “Keep the power in New Brunswick, and New Brunswick in charge of NB Power”

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick New Democratic Party leader Roger Duguay said only the NDP stands 100% against the sale of NB Power to Hydro Quebec. Speaking to newly-elected party officers in Fredericton, Duguay said:

“We are tired of secret deals cooked up by Shawn Graham and his friends. We need to keep the power in New Brunswick, and New Brunswick’s in charge of NB Power.”

“Shawn Graham promised he would keep NB Power public– none of us knew that when he said ‘in public hands’ he was talking about the public of Quebec!”

Duguay noted that Conservative leader David Alward is doing what Tories always do in opposition, making positive statements but leaving loopholes open to justify future inaction. When Alward questions whether the deal could be torn up after it was signed, he’s not doing his job as opposition leader, Duguay charged.

Newly-elected NB NDP President Leigh Sprague said "When the people of New Brunswick
elect New Democrats to the legislature next September we will vote against this sale.  If it's been passed, we will introduce a bill to tear it up.  That's our promise to the people of this province.  This deal is wrong."

“The Liberals and Conservatives have run NB Power into the ground, using it as a dumping ground for political appointments one year, and a cash cow the next, to fund their pet projects,” said Sprague. “The NDP will take responsibility for our problems, not outsource them to other provinces.”

“I call on every New Brunswicker to call their Liberal or Tory MLA and to say no to this sale. This deal can be stopped before it’s signed. Otherwise, as Jack Keir said, we will have the biggest debate this province has ever seen. And he and the Graham Liberals will lose that debate.”

The NB New Democrats have been polling at 22% in recent opinion surveys and are preparing an aggressive 2010 election campaign under the leadership of Duguay and a new generation of activists elected at the Party’s recent convention in Miramachi.