Roughly 1,000 people from across New Brunswick filled the front lawn of the legislative assembly Saturday in a protest against the proposed sale of some of NB Power's assets to Hydro-Québec.

Organizers claim it is the largest to date in a series of protests against the proposed $3.2-billion power deal. The lawn of the legislative assembly in Fredericton was packed with people, many carrying placards demanding that the public utility keep all of its assets.

All three opposition political leaders were present at the rally, however Progressive Conservative Leader David Alward, New Democratic Party Leader Roger Duguay and Green Party Leader Jack MacDougall all refrained from taking the podium to address the crowd.

MacDougall said he believes the rally should demonstrate to the Liberal government that there is still time to reverse the proposed sale agreement.

'We need a referendum. We need to have a chance to have a say in this serious issue.'— Bethany Thorne-Dykstra

"Do the right thing, suspend this decision," MacDougall said.

"And if not, at least give the people the right of a referendum that would at least give the people the right to weigh in on the decision."

Tom Mann, a New Brunswick labour organizer, told the crowd that the New Brunswick government does not have the mandate to sell the generating assets of the province's Crown corporation.

Duff Conacher, the co-ordinator of Democracy Watch, was a keynote speaker at the Saturday rally.

Conacher said voters in New Brunswick should be asking the premier and his caucus if they're going to benefit personally from the power deal.

"I'm not saying that there's something that's going on right now but someone can be rewarded in the future for something they do right now," Conacher said.

"It's a very difficult thing to stop and they should be making a public pledge that they will not take any future reward from anyone involved in this deal if and when they leave government. And that would show that they really believe that this deal is in the public interest."

Many of the protesters who were drawn to the rally came for different reasons.

Bethany Thorne-Dykstra, who was a Liberal candidate in the 2003 election, has been a loud proponent of having a referendum on the power deal.

Thorne-Dykstra said people at the rally were concerned that so many details of the deal remain secret and worry that if the agreement is signed, there would be no way to reverse it.

"We will fight this to the very end and 'no' is not acceptable," she said.

"We need a referendum. We need to have a chance to have a say in this serious issue. It will never be put back in play if it goes through. We have to have our say."

Aside from politicians and community organizers, many citizens showed up to vent their personal displeasure with the power deal.

Wayne Dryer drove from Saint John so he could send a message that NB Power's assets should not be sold.

"Well, I think it's important for the people of New Brunswick to demonstrate that really, this is our power corporation that's being sold, not the property of the legislature — or the Liberal party actually. NB Power's not yours to sell," Dryer said.

Mike Ritchie said he thought the strong showing at the rally would send a clear message to the Liberal government.

"The people have the power, we should do something," Ritchie said.

"We will all work together to resolve the issue."

Deal held up to permit public hearings

The New Brunswick government announced in late February that it was delaying the deal for nearly two months in order to hold a full public debate on the controversial deal.

A committee of MLAs will hold at least 50 hours of public hearings in April, the Liberals announced Friday morning.

But House leader Greg Byrne said at the time that the public consultations wouldn't lead to any changes to the agreement itself.

The full text of the agreement with Quebec, and legislation to enact it, will be introduced in the legislature by the end of March.

The March 31 deadline to sign the agreement has been pushed back until May 21.

Under the deal, Hydro-Québec would acquire most of the province's power-generation assets, but New Brunswick would maintain control of transmission and distribution.

New Brunswick's residential ratepayers would get a five-year rate freeze. Medium-sized industries would see a roughly 15 per cent cut in power rates and large industrial customers would see their power prices fall by roughly 23 per cent.

After five years, residential rates would increase with inflation and be regulated by the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board.

The deal was watered down from the original $4.8-billion package announced in October because of a public outcry and open dissent within the Liberal caucus.