New Brunswick premier Shawn Graham issued a warning to Rodney and Danny about any plans they might have for energy development involving his province:
Premier Shawn Graham sent a shot across the bows of his Atlantic Canadian counterparts Tuesday, saying the other three provinces cannot simply expect to build new energy projects and then ship the electrical power to the United States through New Brunswick's power grid.
Then he made it plain:
For example, he [federal defence minister Peter MacKay] pointed to Newfoundland and Labrador's hydro projects at Lower Churchill Falls.
The Newfoundland government's hydro corporation is currently in negotiations with several utilities in the Maritimes, discussing the possibility of bringing that electricity to the region via sub-sea cable.
Not so fast, Graham said Tuesday.
The premier, at an event in Toronto promoting his tax reforms, said he was "surprised" by MacKay's comments.
While Graham said he will co-operate with Ottawa and the other provinces, he warned that New Brunswick won't be taken advantage of or pushed aside.
In a follow-up interview, he went further.
"That energy has the potential to flow through our province, but we want to make sure it doesn't jeopardize the projects that we're trying to achieve here," he said.
"The marker that we're putting in the ground is: we're not just going to (allow) the erection of lines for electricity transmission in New Brunswick that benefit other regions, but not (us)."
-srbp-
