Progressive Conservative MLA Jeannot Volpé says the agreement to sell some of NB Power's generating stations to Hydro-Québec is better than doing nothing with the Crown corporation.

Premier Shawn Graham's Liberals have been saying since the massive power deal was first announced in late October that the status quo is not an option when it comes to NB Power.

Volpé, a former energy minister and interim Tory leader, said he agrees that changes must be made at NB Power.

And he said if there were only two choices — the status quo and the government's deal with Quebec — he'd go with the deal to sell parts of the utility to Hydro-Québec.

"I mean if you're given two options and you say which one is the best? I would say that's probably the best," Volpé said referring to the proposed sale.

Energy Minister Jack Keir seized on Volpé's comments on Wednesday.

"Jeannot Volpé now agrees that this plan that we have on the table and are ready to move forward on is better than what the other options are," Keir said.

Progressive Conservative Leader David Alward told CBC New Brunswick's political panel that Volpé admitted that his comments were a "mistake."

"Mr. Volpé came to me this morning and said he made a mistake … Certainly that Mr. Volpé has said that this deal is not good for the future of New Brunswick, it is a bad deal."

Alward said the Tories believe the status quo is not an option.

"Our position from square one has been very clear. NB Power should not be sold. This government does not have a mandate to do it. The fact is this deal where this government is the only people that are talking about the status quo."

Although Alward said on Thursday that his party has been clear that the Crown corporation should not be sold, on Oct. 26, he laid out three criteria for any sale of NB Power.

Relentless attack

The Tories, including Volpé, have been relentless in their attack on the proposed power deal that would sell several NB Power assets to Hydro-Québec for $3.2 billion, which would pay down a significant portion of the utility's debt.

Alward has demanded that an election be called before the power deal goes through and he even raised the possibility of nationalizing parts of the utility if he was elected premier and the sale had already been finalized.

Given the opposition's continuous criticism of the deal, Volpé was asked why he felt the deal was better than the current structure.

"It's better than the status quo. But nobody's looking for the status quo," he said.

Volpé said there are other ways to fix NB Power without selling its best assets to Quebec.

Volpé was the energy minister in the former Progressive Conservative government that embarked on an energy policy renewal that eventually saw NB Power broken up into competing subsidiaries in 2003.