I went to a conference in the mid 1990s where the Governor of Maine at the time, Angus King, went on and on about how NB Premier Frank McKenna was his ‘hero’ and ‘role model’ and such things.
Now, Maine newspapers are awash with anti-New Brunswick comments over Premier Lord’s opposition to the proposed LNG plant for northern Maine. Consider this comment in the Bangor Daily News last saturday:
So, the threat by New Brunswick Premier Bernard Long to quash two proposals to build liquefied natural gas terminals in Maine is troubling.
Notwithstanding the misspelled name in the article, and without even commenting on the merits of the LNG plant or its opposition, I just think we have come a long way from McKenna as hero to the Governor of Maine to Bernard Long as the guy trying to kibosh economic development in the poorest region of the United States.
The article continues:
Mr. Lord said the Canadian government could say no to LNG in Maine just as it said no to an oil refinery in Eastport 30 years ago. First, it wasn’t Canadian opposition as much as the U.S. government’s concern over endangered bald eagles that doomed the refinery. Second, saying no to projects on one side of the border, while championing those on the other is hypocritical.
The article concludes:
Mr. Lord should look out for the interests of his countrymen and his constituents, but not at the expense of his neighbors.