Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams spoke out in St. John's Thursday against a proposed deal to sell the majority of New Brunswick's power assets to Quebec.

Williams said if the deal goes through, it will be bad for Newfoundland and Labrador, the Maritime provinces and Ontario.

"If [Quebec also] acquires P.E.I. and Nova Scotia [power], we will find ourselves in a situation where one province will have energy control of the entire Maritime provinces," said Williams. "It will be attempting to strand Newfoundland and Labrador. So good, cheap, competitively priced energy, can't be offered to that whole region.

"We are in a situation where Ontario, which is probably at its most vulnerable moment in its history, will be on its knees on a go-forward basis. That's not a good situation for the country."

Williams lashed out at Quebec.

"Quebec is a province that receives roughly $16 billion a year in transfers from Canada as a have-not province. So, the irony here is a have-not province that receives significant largesse from the rest of the country … is now going around and buying up energy assets."

Newfoundland and Labrador has been preparing to develop a hydroelectric mega-project on Labrador's Churchill River for years. It intends to sell some of the power generated there to the northeastern U.S. states and had been hoping to negotiate a deal with New Brunswick to transport the power via that province instead of through Quebec.

Williams said Thursday that Quebec will not block the province from selling power to the U.S.

"[The Lower Churchill project ] will be developed, and it will be developed on our terms, and as I've said before, over my dead body am I going to hand this over to Jean Charest and Quebec."

New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham and Quebec Premier Jean Charest announced the historic deal in Fredericton on Thursday. It would see Hydro-Québec buy the majority of NB Power's assets for $4.8 billion, which represents the equivalent of NB Power's debt.

The deal is contingent on legislative approval in New Brunswick. As part of the deal, Hydro-Québec would freeze residential power rates in New Brunswick for five years. During the same time, large industrial rates would be lowered to the prices offered to the same customers in Quebec but they would not be frozen. That component of the deal is worth an estimated $5 billion to NB Power customers.