Group that opposed power deal sets its sights on a new target - Gleaner
Friday, 09 April 2010 14:35 | 
Written by Dennis | 
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A coalition of groups that rallied together to stop the sale of NB Power assets is shifting its efforts towards giving citizens more say in the political decision-making process.
Tom Mann said the Coalition of New Brunswickers: NB Power Not for Sale is in the throes of transitioning its work to press for new tools that would give New Brunswickers greater say over government decisions.
He said the group, which is made up of citizens and Opposition politicians, plans to address issues of common concern to a broad spectrum of New Brunswickers.
"New Brunswickers have illustrated that they understand fairness and justice. They understand when something doesn't feel right," Mann, a spokesman for the coalition, said Thursday following a rally on the lawn of the legislature.
"We think this is an opportunity for New Brunswickers to ensure they have their say."
The tools sought by the group are likely to borrow from the suggestions of Duff Conacher, head of an Ottawa-based political watchdog group who spoke during a rally last month against the proposed NB Power-Hydro-Quebec deal, Mann said.
Among other things, Conacher has advocated creating a system that would see politicians who mislead the public fined a year's salary, adding a parliamentary budget officer who could analyze government's claims about the financial impact of decisions, and giving citizens the power to initiate plebiscites that would be binding on government.
Mann said the group feels there's interest in pursuing the direction.
"Regardless of where they lived in the province, what language they spoke, or their political persuasion, there was recognition that the political process failed New Brunswickers," he said.
In the aftermath of the collapse of the $3.5-billion deal to sell NB Power assets to Hydro-Quebec, Premier Shawn Graham acknowledged that the process, derided by critics for being secretive and delivered as a done-deal, was a point of public consternation.
"People were not upset with us for taking on the electricity issue. They were angry with us because they wanted to be part of the solution and our process didn't let them in," he said last month.
Mount Allison University political scientist Geoff Martin said he isn't surprised that the coalition is channelling its energies towards tackling some of the concerns that caused the groups to unite in the first place.
"I think it's a good direction for this group," he said, noting that it brought together diverse groups, even those not aligned with any particular party.
"We're certainly in an era of discontent, an era of populism where people have felt distanced because of elitist politics.
"The time is right for these movements to grow."