Hundreds cheer Palin in Mich. for book tour

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — College students ditched class, employees skipped work and some huddled in the cold overnight just to make sure they get an orange wristband Wednesday that would let them meet Sarah Palin.

A line of more than a thousand people — some sporting Palin Power stickers and Palin T-shirts — moved slowly into a Barnes & Noble store Wednesday to see the former Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor on the first stop of her "Going Rogue" book tour. During the hours they waited, some broke out in chants of "Palin! Palin! Palin!"

Scores more who couldn't get wristbands awaited Palin's arrival outside, braving the cold and yelling. "USA!" and "Sarah, Sarah!" at an event that took on the feel of a political pep rally.

"She's a person of faith, she has a family, she has gone through a lot of the trials and tribulations we have. I'd vote for her in a heartbeat," said Lana Smith, a dispatcher at a bus company who took the day off work and had been waiting in line since 5:30 a.m.

"Someday I hope her name is up in lights and I'll have had the privilege of meeting her," Smith said.

The song "Only in America," a standard on George W. Bush's 2004 campaign stops, played as Palin's tour bus, painted to resemble the cover of her book, pulled up to the Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids.

"I just can't tell you how good it is to be back in Michigan," the former Alaska governor said after getting off the bus carrying her youngest son, Trig. "Alaska and Michigan have so much in common, with the huntin' and the fishin' and the hockey moms, and just the hardworking, patriotic Americans who are here."

Palin took time to shake hands with most of those whose books she signed, something 50-year-old Bill Buckner appreciated after Palin signed books for him and his 21-year-old daughter, Michelle.

"We are very, very honored that she came here. And coming to Grand Rapids as her No. 1 stop is even better," said Buckner, who had gotten in line around 4:30 a.m.

The memoir was released Tuesday but has topped best-seller lists for weeks. At the Barnes & Noble, more than 1,000 orange wristbands were handed out, allowing wearers to get two copies autographed by Palin at the three-hour signing event.

Tom Maike got in line at 1 a.m. after driving the 90 minutes from his home in White Cloud. Wearing a button on his baseball cap that said, "Don't blame me, I voted for Sarah," Maike said he plans to keep one of his signed books for himself and will give the other to his sister or his daughter — "whichever one talks me out of it."

Rachel Baragar, 72, praised Palin's honesty and down-to-earth manner.

"She could be your next-door neighbor," said Baragar, wearing a "Palin Power" bumper sticker across her red sweat shirt.

College students Megan Patzky of Racine, Wis., and Sarah Cranmer of Chicago waited in line overnight and skipped their Wednesday classes at nearby Calvin College to get an autograph. Patzky planned to give the signed book to her father for Christmas.

After standing in the cold all night, Patzky and Cranmer were happy to get into the mall around 6:15 a.m. "We were hoping that someone would start selling coffee, but nobody did," Patzky joked.

"Going Rogue" follows Palin from childhood to her departure last summer as Alaska governor. The title refers to her independent streak as a candidate, stemming from complaints within the campaign of GOP presidential nominee John McCain that she had gone "rogue" by disagreeing with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan last October.

McCain halted his campaign in the state after internal polls showed Obama approaching a double-digit lead. Palin publicly disagreed with the move and said she'd "sure love to get to run to Michigan" to make sure residents know the Republicans had not given up in the state.

Before the pullout, Palin had campaigned with McCain in Grand Rapids and the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights. Her three-week book tour is expected to largely mirror the 2008 race with stops in cities such as Noblesville, Ind.; Washington, Pa., and Rochester, N.Y.

Many of those waiting at the Michigan bookstore said they would vote for Palin if she decides to run for president in 2012.

"I believe she's a good, strong person to do the things we need to do in this country," said David Zak, 70, who drove about two hours out of his way on his way from Wisconsin to his home in southeast Michigan to see Palin. "I like her Christian philosophy. I like that she's pro-life. I believe she can do what needs to be done to get ahead."

___

Associated Press Writer James Prichard contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS that Palin shook hands with most of those whose book she signed, not with most of those in line.)

UN atomic agency to unveil latest Iran report

VIENNA — The UN atomic agency unveils its latest report on Iran's disputed nuclear drive Monday, with world powers warning Tehran is "running out of time" to respond to a UN-brokered offer to end the standoff.

The International Atomic Energy Agency report will take stock of Iran's uranium enrichment activities in spite of international sanctions and detail findings from an October visit to a previously secret atomic site at Qom.

President Barack Obama on Sunday won the strongest backing yet from Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Iran, with the US leader expressing frustration that Tehran had yet to answer an offer to enrich uranium outside of Iran.

"Unfortunately, so far at least, Iran has been unable to say yes" to the proposal, Obama said after talks with Medvedev in Singapore. "We now are running out of time with respect to that approach."

Russia, which has the strongest ties with Tehran of any big power, has traditionally been unwilling to punish Iran with tough measures. But Medvedev said that Tehran risked sanctions if the crisis continued. Related article: US, Russia warn Iran over nuclear plans

He said Moscow was "not completely happy about the pace" of efforts to resolve the crisis.

"In case we fail, the other options remain on the table, in order to move the process in a different direction," he said in a reference to new UN sanctions against Tehran.

Russia, like the United States, is a veto-wielding UN Security Council permanent member, and its support is crucial if US warnings of tough sanctions against Tehran are to carry weight.

Obama described as "fair" the proposal offered to Iran, which would see states -- including Russia -- help Tehran to further enrich Iranian uranium for delivery to a research reactor.

Referring to sanctions, he said that "we will begin to discuss and prepare for these other pathways" as Tehran could not be counted on to fulfil its international obligations.

The West suspects Tehran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon under cover of its civilian nuclear energy programme. Iran vehemently denies the claims while Russia has said there is no evidence to support the accusations.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Saturday that Ankara was in talks with the IAEA to enrich Iran's uranium and that his country saw no objection to doing so.

IAEA Secretary General Mohamed ElBaradei, whose mandate finishes at the end of November, is to chair his last board of governor's meeting on November 26, during which Monday's report will be discussed.

Winter Olympics to bring gold to B.C. economy next year, says a report by Conference Board of Canada

OTTAWA — British Columbia will top the country in economic growth next year in large part because of a gold-plated boost the province is getting from hosting the Winter Olympics, the Conference Board of Canada says.

The Ottawa think tank's provincial outlook released Thursday forecasts B.C.'s economy will leap forward by 4.2 per cent next year after being one of the provinces hardest hit by the recession.

Only Saskatchewan, a prairie province rich in energy, minerals and grains, will come close to B.C. for growth next year at 3.7 per cent, says the Conference Board.

'There's going to be increased tourism activity and all the spending associated with the Olympics, and that will generate a lot of employment," explained Marie-Christine Bernard, who authored the report. She said the Olympic effect alone will boost the economy by up to 0.8 per cent.

In a previously released forecast, the Conference Board had projected the Canadian economy as a whole would shrink by 2.1 per cent this year and grow by 2.9 per cent in 2010, an estimate that is about level with the Bank of Canada's projections but more optimistic than most private economists.

In its report, the Conference Board said the Canadian economy will keep expanding to 3.6-per-cent growth in 2011, better than the 3.3 per cent the central bank has predicted.

Thursday's outlook contains a more detailed analysis of the economy, including how national and global developments will impact each province.

'Most provinces are struggling to exit recession," the report states. "The recovery is still fragile and not firmly entrenched, but the weakness is expected to dissipate in the next few months."

One of the strengths going forward is the billions of dollars Ottawa and the provincial governments are pouring into infrastructure projects, the report states.

Although the report says there is little evidence of the money boosting the economy currently, it expects the spending will forge ahead in the final weeks of this year and peak in 2010.

The report shows that the recession, while it was painful generally and cost about 400,000 jobs, did not affect all regions the same way. Nor will the recovery be uniform, the think tank says.

The most surprising projection is that the Conference Board expects Ontario, which was hardest hit by the recession, to rebound relatively strongly next year by 3.2 per cent, and post an even stronger advance in 2011.

The report notes that Ontario was likely among the first provinces to fall into recession in mid-2008 and took the overall biggest hit, with a peak-to-trough contraction of 4.5-per-cent. That is much worse than the 3.3 per cent the recession has taken out of the Canadian economy as a whole.

Ontario saw its manufacturing sector battered in the last year, primarily because of the deep restructuring in the auto industry, which led to plant shutdowns and the loss of thousands of assembly and parts jobs in Canada's manufacturing heartland.

The high dollar also hurt exporters, leading to retrenchment in the forestry, machinery and other sectors.

'The U.S. recession paralyzed production around the auto industry and the manufacturing sector as a whole," said Bernard. "But next year we have a recovery in the U.S. and that will help manufacturing (in Ontario)."

Still, Ontario fell so hard and so deep, she added, that it will need even stronger growth just to catch up to the rest of the country.

Alberta also suffered badly during the slump, but higher oil prices and continued oilsands development should boost the economy by three per cent next year.

Quebec was not as hurt, suffering a relatively modest 1.4-per-cent decline in 2009, largely because the provincial government was more aggressive in pushing forward infrastructure spending, which helped offset job cuts in forestry.

The downside, however, is that the province's economy will grow more slowly next year at about 2.4 per cent.

The think tank says Manitoba and the Maritime provinces managed to avoid a recession altogether this year, but their growth will be modest next year.

Only Newfoundland will fail to emerge from recession next year, says the Conference Board, as declining offshore oil production and weaker construction will again shrink the economy by 0.5 per cent, after falling 3.6 per cent this year.

Scottish sensation Susan Boyle to sing in Toronto later this month

TORONTO — Susan Boyle, the Scottish singer who became a YouTube sensation, is set to sing in Toronto later this month.

The Nov. 26 show will be her only Canadian appearance.

Boyle became an Internet smash earlier this year after her audition on the TV show "Britain's Got Talent."

While judges initially seemed skeptical of her frumpy appearance and quirky mannerisms, they were ultimately bowled over by her powerful pipes when she began to sing "I Dreamed A Dream."

The "Les Miserables" song serves as the title of Boyle's debut album, which drops Nov. 23.

It includes the singer covering the Rolling Stones classic "Wild Horses," as well as her take on "Daydream Believer," by the Monkees.

The lunchtime show, to be held at a downtown mall, will be free of charge.

Boyle, who finished second on the British talent show, had difficulty grappling with her sudden rise to prominence.

The former church volunteer had to be hospitalized for exhaustion after her run on the program and said fame hit her like a "giant demolition ball."

Royal couple tours Olympic village and mugs with 2010 Olympic mascots

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Prince Charles set pomp aside and had Vancouver hearts glowing Saturday, putting people at ease by hamming it up with dancing Olympic mascots and trying on fuzzy Maple Leaf-adorned mittens with his wife Camilla.

Miga, Quatchi and Sumi wiggled, bowed and giggled before the royal couple at a stop during their tour of the Olympic village, delighting the pair with their antics.

Charles grinned wide, asking about their origins and pointing at one in amusement as the couple was flanked by the cuddly Olympic characters for a photo opportunity.

Although the couple started the visit under a grey sky and drizzle, their faces shone with perpetual smiles.

"We call this our West Coast sunshine. Just like England, isn't it?" a First Nations drummer told Camilla after greeting them with a traditional performance.

Both held umbrellas as they strolled between points of interest at the Olympic village, the site where athletes will stay during the Vancouver 2010 Games next February. They often paused to chat with excited Union Jack-waving spectators.

"I dream about Charles very often, I dream I am in the royal family and so I wanted to see him in person," said elderly Teresa Tulett, watching from the sidelines. "My dream came true."

Crossing a bridge along the nearby seawall the couple stopped to admire a First Nations art installation, a stainless steel Salish North Star inscribed in a maple leaf. Then they asked its creator, Wade Baker, to spin around and display a green, yellow and black "royal robe" draped over his back and shoulders.

"They realized there is royalty over this side of the pond too," Baker said after the encounter.

After congratulating several Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes, Charles and Camilla slipped their hands into giant red-knitted mittens.

"Lovely," said the Duchess of Cornwall, as she open and closed her palms, showing off the Olympic rings-stitched gift presented by Premier Gordon Campbell.

Charles spent much of his day gleaning knowledge about the environmental and sustainable innovations of the city, in which he takes a special interest.

"He's very personable and he obviously knew what he was talking about," said Ian Smith, manager of development for the Olympic village, after answering numerous queries by the prince about a model of the village.

"Prince Charles is by far my most favourite royal," said spectator Lisa MacFarlane. "Mostly because he's been a voice for the environment for decades."

Camilla split off from her husband in the afternoon to see the VanDusen botanical gardens and a mobile research lab focused on osteoporosis.

Charles, meanwhile, took his time probing young entrepreneurs on details of the businesses they started with the Canadian Youth Business Foundation.

"I thought he was extremely warm, it was very intimate even though there was such a barrage of people," said Chelsey MacNeil from St. John's, who started Model Citizens, a vintage clothing resaler.

April Glavine, from Nova Scotia, said the "nice, big-hearted and very genuine," prince expressed real interest in her company, which sells healthy vending products.

"I was like, 'OK, stop asking me questions now,"' she exclaimed.

Charles laughed and poked feathers sprouting from the top of a white hat known as a "fascinator," made as a gift for Camilla by a Toronto entrepreneur, which the prince pronounced as "marvellous."

"(The couple) looked exactly as I thought they would, but Charles didn't look as old as I thought he would," noted spectator Marie Payne, adding she was glad the couple will be in the country during Remembrance Day.

Julian Key, 15 and a self-proclaimed royalist, sported a Union Jack sweatshirt and had stars in his eyes.

"It was thrilling to see them that close, it's my first royal sighting," he said.

Charles also toured a health care facility, sipping tea by a roaring hearth, and briefly shared his views on sustainable urban development at a conference held by Simon Fraser University.

He told delegates he believes it's crucial to consider the story about the way people live.

"(It) seems to me that we could do with rediscovering our intimate connection with nature, at a time when the world is facing so many enormous challenges over climate change and environmental crises of one kind or another," he said.

While this is Charles fifteenth visit to Canada, it is his wife's first trip.

Calgary withdraws Expo bid

Citing a lack of guaranteed cash, the City of Calgary has pulled the plug on its bid for Expo 2017, the international fair.

Given massive deficits in Alberta and Ottawa, the city could not count on funding support from the other levels of government for a project that could run as high as $1.5 billion, said Mayor Dave Bronconnier on Monday.

"We're not prepared to add a potentially a billion-plus burden on taxpayers in which to fund the event," he said.

Calgary made a surprise announcement that it was interested in hosting the world fair just before a deadline in May for submissions to the federal government. At the time, city council approved spending up to $400,000 on starting a bid committee to map out ideas.

The city saw the Expo "as an opportunity to leverage" and "to accelerate the redevelopment of the west end of downtown," said the mayor, but soon realized it was not financially sustainable.

Ald. Joe Connolly wasn't convinced dropping the bid should have been so final.

"The reason I'm disappointed is they did not present a complete business case to us in-camera. If you look at a business case and they have a big fat zero next beside the province's contribution and a big fat zero beside the federal contribution. You may consider that that is incomplete," said Connolly on Monday.

"My peers got scared off by a big number. That's what happened. But I'm not very happy about it."

Each country can submit only one city to represent its bid.

Calgary's withdrawal leaves Edmonton as the only Canadian city vying to host the event.

The City of Edmonton started work on its Expo 2017 bid in the fall of 2007 when it approved work on a preliminary study. In October, city council officially gave the go-ahead to start detailed work on a bid.

Calgary spent $5.5 million between 1995 and 1997 promoting its bid for the 2005 Expo, which was awarded to Nagoya, Japan.

West Village plans unveiled

In abandoning the Expo plan however, city council voted to push ahead on redeveloping what would have been the exposition site in the west end of downtown, to be called the West Village.

Over the next 25 years, city planners hope to develop 111 acres of land between 11th Street S.W. to Crowchild Trail, and the Bow River south to the CP Rail tracks.

The plan would see the light industrial area, currently home to car lots and bus terminals, transformed into:

• Highrise towers and condos for 12,000 people.
• Parks.
• A site for the Alberta College of Art & Design.
• A land bridge connecting a new Sunalta C-Train station.

"This is some of the most valuable and strategically important land in Calgary: downtown real estate, right on the Bow River, right next to a new LRT station," said Bronconnier in a news release.

The city already owns much of the land, some of which is contaminated with creosote and needs to be remediated. There's no word yet on who might be interested in buying or building in the West Village.

Pakistan's capital now resembles besieged city

ISLAMABAD — An onslaught of militant violence has transformed Pakistan's capital from a sleepy oasis to something of a city under siege, with its tree-lined streets barricaded, schools shuttered and jittery residents wondering when the next attack will come.

The fear shows how Taliban and al-Qaida-led insurgents based along the Afghan border have brought the war into Pakistan's political and diplomatic heart, something they hope will force the government to halt a new army offensive into their stronghold.

The unease has been heightened by the range of targets attacked despite a nationwide security clampdown. Suicide bombers hit the International Islamic University and a U.N. office in Islamabad; militants took officers hostage for 22 hours at army headquarters in the neighboring city of Rawalpindi; commando-style raids paralyzed the eastern city of Lahore; and bombs have ripped through markets in the northwest.

More than 300 people have been killed, most of them Pakistani civilians. And no one expects the attacks to end soon.

"The feeling is that things have degenerated terribly," said Javeed Akhtar, a corporate lawyer. "The university bombing (on Oct. 20) sent a chill through everyone. There is now a realization that targets are unrestricted. It is no holds barred."

Islamabad once was sheltered from the militant, separatist and gang violence that was a feature of life in other cities in Pakistan. Visitors were typically amazed at how quiet, well-ordered and wealthy it was compared with other South Asian cities.

That began changing in mid-2007, when the army besieged and then stormed the city's Red Mosque after militants inside refused to surrender. Gunshots and explosions rang out for days across the most exclusive suburbs, and around 100 people were killed.

The siege is now widely considered to be the starting point of the insurgency. Vowing vengeance, militants based in the lawless, tribally controlled region along the Afghan border began a vicious campaign against targets associated with the government, security forces and Western interests.

While Islamabad was occasionally hit, its 900,000 people and several thousand foreign residents still considered themselves largely untouched by the war. But just over a year ago, a truck bombing devastated the J.W. Marriott Hotel and showed the city was well and truly in the militant cross hairs.

"Every morning as we leave our houses we pray, and we ask our family members to pray that we get back safe and sound," said Mohammad Rahim, who runs an electronics business in the city center. "That is what every Pakistani does."

With many people choosing to stay at home, owners of restaurants and shops popular with foreigners and wealthy Pakistanis say their earnings have dropped by 50 percent in the two weeks since the start of the latest government offensive.

Many schools remain closed following the university attack, while principals try to secure them against possible future attacks. Workers are busy building thick concrete barriers to stop suicide car bombers.

Many parents have chosen to keep children at home even when their schools reopened.

"As soon as there is an explosion, things come to a standstill for a day or two, but life must go on," said Najmi Rizvi, the head of a preschool where attendance was down 50 percent. "We have to live in this situation," she said, as toddlers in Halloween costumes ran around the yard.

The city's foreigners are especially at risk, given popular anger at the U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan and the government's close ties with Washington. Fears have risen further amid hostile media reporting of the major expansion of the U.S. embassy, and reports — denied by American officials — that members of the tarnished security company once called Blackwater are present in the city.

Islamabad's main diplomatic enclave, which is fenced off from the rest of the city, has become a neighborhood of fortresses, with compounds sealed off behind concentric rings of barbed wire, blast walls and heavy metal gates. Armed men — whether from government security forces or the small armies of private guards at each compound — are everywhere.

In the face of the attacks, the resolve of the country's politicians, army generals and people to take the fight to the militants in their border sanctuary of South Waziristan appears to be holding. But unqualified support for the offensive is complicated by the unpopularity of the government and a belief that the violence would stop if America pulled out of Afghanistan.

In more than a dozen interviews Thursday and Friday, conspiracy theories alleging the involvement of neighboring India or the United States in the attacks were frequently aired.

"We want to see a normal life, so for God's sake, listen to what the (militants) are saying. They are against American forces in Afghanistan," said Imran Ali, a 32-year-old carpet dealer. "What America is doing is illegal, and that is the root cause of all evils."

Barrick Gold posts US$5.4 billion net loss on windup of gold hedging program

TORONTO — Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) lost US$5.4 billion in the third quarter due to the windup of its gold hedging program, but the big miner said this move, as well as several low-cost projects set to come online in the next few years, position it to prosper from a rising gold price.

"Our production will be higher next year and at lower costs. We have a world-class pipeline of projects under construction and a number of additional projects in various phases of feasibility studies," Barrick president and CEO Aaron Regent said on a conference call Thursday.

"Our company structure has been simplified with the elimination of the hedge book, we have a strong financial position to support our operations and projects, and finally we have a number of competitive advantages which we believe will continue to pay dividends in the future," he added.

The market agreed, sending Barrick's shares up by $1.74 or 4.7 per cent to $38.78 in morning trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Toronto-based gold miner, which reports in U.S. dollars, said its quarterly loss included a non-cash accounting charge of $5.7 billion related to its hedging program.

Adjusting for the accounting charge, Barrick had a profit of $473 million or 54 cents per share, up 17 per cent from $404 million or 46 cents per share last year.

Barrick is the world's biggest gold company, with third-quarter sales of nearly $2.1 billion in the third quarter - up from just under $1.9 billion last year.

Regent said Barrick took several steps during the quarter to improve the company's performance and strategic positioning going forward.

That included plans to eliminate its gold hedging program within 12 months.

The hedging program, which was designed to lock in prices for future sales to provide insurance against a drop in gold prices, has become a drag for Barrick. The hedges prevented Barrick from taking full advantage of the rising price of bullion, which has recently been trading above US$1,000 an ounce.

"We made this decision to gain full leverage to the gold price on all future production based on an increasingly positive outlook for gold," said Barrick chief financial officer Jamie Sokalsky.

Sokalsky said the company has so far raised a total of $5.1 billion by issuing equities and long-term debt and as of Wednesday had eliminated 1.1 million ounces of gold hedges, or approximately one-third of its hedged position.

"By eliminating the gold hedge book, the company will fully participate in future gold price movements," Sokalsky said.

"Our overall leverage is reduced and the capital structure is simplified and strengthened. And we know that investors prefer fully unhedged producers and with this plan we are now better aligned with those interests."

Barrick said its average realized gold price for the quarter was $971 per ounce, or $11 higher than the average spot price of $960 per ounce.

And Regent said he expects the price of gold to continue to rise due to the current macroeconomic environment.

"Low interest rates, the increase in the money supply and current and future government deficits is continuing to put pressure on global currencies and is increasing the risk of significant inflation in the future. This has resulted in an increased demand for gold by investors around the world," he said.

"While gold prices appear high in nominal terms, in real terms they are still 50 per cent below the peak levels realized in 1980, and from an industry perspective mine supply continues to decline and we expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future," he added.

Barrick produced 1.90 million ounces of gold in the quarter at total cash costs of $456 per ounce, or net cash costs of $371 per ounce after applying credits from sales of non-gold metals such as copper and silver that are mined along with the gold.

Revenues fell short of analyst expectations but Barrick's adjusted earnings were above a consensus estimate compiled by Thomson Reuters.

On average, analysts had called for $2.147 billion in revenue and 47 cents per share before unusual items such as the charge for the hedging program.

Barrick said it is on track with its full-year production guidance of 7.2 million to 7.6 million ounces of gold at total cash costs of $450 to $475 per ounce or net cash costs of $360 to $385 per ounce.

The company expects production in 2010 to grow to between 7.7 million and 8.1 million ounces of gold at lower cash costs than this year.

Barrick has several low-cost projects positioned to come online over the next five years, including Cortez Hills in Nevada, expected to begin production in the first quarter of 2010; Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, expected to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2011; Pascua-Lama on the border between Argentina and Chile, expected to begin production in the first quarter of 2013; and Buzwagi in Tanzania, which began production in May and is on track to produce 200,000 ounces this year.

Talks with Hydro-Quebec about NB Power at 'critical' stage, N.B. gov't says

FREDERICTON — Negotiations that could see key assets of New Brunswick's public utility company sold to Hydro-Quebec are at a crucial stage, the government of Premier Shawn Graham said Monday as two other Atlantic premiers expressed concerns about a possible deal.

The New Brunswick government has been under pressure in recent days to reveal details of their discussions with Quebec amid fears that the province could give up control of NB Power, a Crown corporation.

"These talks are now at a critical stage," provincial Energy Minister Jack Keir said.

"I absolutely understand the fear of the unknown here ... if there is a deal at the end of the day, it will be rolled out, be very transparent, and it will be the most important debate we have in the history of New Brunswick in the legislature."

NB Power was created by New Brunswick's legislature in 1920, and during the 2006 provincial election campaign Graham vowed to maintain it as a publicly-owned utility.

When asked whether the government was backing down on that commitment, Keir said he would not speculate on the outcome of the discussions.

But Keir said any deal with Quebec must ensure competitive power rates for all New Brunswickers, including small and medium-sized businesses, and address the utility's massive debt.

"NB Power has nearly a $4.8-billion debt that your kids and grandkids aren't going to be able to pay back," Keir said.

He said the deal must also allow New Brunswick to press ahead with a plan to position itself as a conduit for neighbouring provinces to export their power to the northeastern United States.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, Premier Danny Williams said he would fight any proposed deal by Hydro-Quebec to take over key power assets in New Brunswick, a move he said was rooted in "greed."

"If it looks like that is not good for the people of Atlantic Canada, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, the people of the country, then we'd certainly consider going before the Competition Bureau with an anti-competitive claim," Williams told reporters Monday.

"And then if there's other legal recourse that we have to look at, then we're quite prepared to do that as well."

Williams has long fought with Quebec over the 1969 contract to develop Churchill Falls in Labrador - a deal he says has given that province at least $19 billion in profits while his province has earned only about $1 billion.

He accused Hydro-Quebec of trying to scupper his plans to develop the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project and sell the energy from that development to the U.S.

"They want to make sure that Newfoundland and Labrador will have to do what it did in the past ... give (them) our power at meagre rates and then they'll sell it at exorbitant rates and take all the profit," Williams said.

"I don't think the people of Quebec are even aware what Hydro-Quebec is doing, but Hydro-Quebec are saying, 'No, we've got the Upper Churchill. We're going to take that up to 2041. And now we're going to try and bring them to their knees on the Lower Churchill,"' he added.

"I've got to tell you, that will be over my dead body."

Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter also waded into the debate Monday, saying he shares many of Williams's concerns.

"Anything that concentrates the power utilities in the hands of a single entity like (Hydro-Quebec) has potential ramifications for the energy corridor (to New England)," he said.

An energy analyst with Toronto-based watchdog group Energy Probe said Monday that New Brunswick would lose power over its energy future if it sells assets and transmission capacity to Quebec.

"I don't know how you effectively regulate Hydro-Quebec with a public utilities commission in New Brunswick," said Norm Rubin.

"I can't imagine New Brunswick being influential once this deal is signed."

But Keir said New Brunswickers shouldn't be concerned.

"We're not going to make a deal here with anybody, whoever it might be, unless we're absolutely convinced this is a great deal for New Brunswickers and that we don't lose that control that people are worried about," Keir said.

Provincial Conservative Opposition Leader David Alward called for an immediate recall of the legislature to form a non-partisan committee to study the issue.

"This is too important an issue for the New Brunswick government to present as a done deal," Alward told reporters.

"We could lose control of our energy supply for the first time in our history."

Tory ridings get more stimulus money

Conservative ridings are getting more economic stimulus money than ridings held by opposition members of Parliament, a CBC News analysis suggests.

According to the analysis of the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, Conservative ridings have received about 60 per cent of the funding, compared with 40 per cent for opposition ridings.

The Tories hold 143 of the 308 ridings in Canada, or 46.4 per cent.

For example, the Saskatchewan riding of Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale, who has been a vocal critic of the stimulus spending, has received about $4.8 million. But the Conservative riding next door received about $6.5 million.

Crunching the numbers in a sample of other ridings across the country shows a similar pattern.

The minority government Conservatives have been defending themselves all week against allegations they are favouring Tory ridings with stimulus spending.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said nearly half of the projects are in opposition ridings — and the largest projects are in such ridings, he added.

But Peter Donolo of the Strategic Counsel polling firm said the Tories' record is much better than it used to be.

"There’s this long tradition in Canada, a time-honoured tradition in Canada, of opposition roads not being paved and government-controlled roads being paved. That goes back decades."

But Donolo, a former communications director for former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien, said it's a dangerous game to play for political gain.

"It's probably more than offset by the bad odour, the bad optics that come from a government looking like it's playing politics with public money at a time like this," he said.

Chrétien was known to dish out government money to Liberal-held ridings. But Donolo said the problem for Harper is that he promised to do things differently.