Alliance backs bilingualism

New Brunswick's People's Alliance party expressed its support at a weekend conference for the province's bilingualism law.

The new party, formed in opposition to Liberal Premier Shawn Graham's ill-fated attempt to sell NB Power, is meeting in Oromocto to develop a full platform.

In 1991, another grassroots party, the Confederation of Regions, became the province's official opposition with a promise to push for a repeal of theprovincial Official Languages Act.

But the Alliance leader, Kris Austin, expressed support this weekend for the status quo on language, saying the fact that New Brunswick is bilingual makes the province the beauty that it is.

At the conference, party members discussed the importance of early exposure to French in schools.

Austin said he would even look at making French mandatory for students, in order to see more graduates fluent in both official languages.

Big picture

"We're not looking to grab a segment of New Brunswick, we're looking to grab the whole of New Brunswick and the reality is this is a bilingual province and we believe in that,"Austin said.

The convention also discussed energy policy. Art MacKay, the Alliance president, is leading a drive for community ownership of power generation.

"We have a wishy-washy community policy that was put in by the Liberals recently," he said.

"You have Campobello [Island] sitting down there, which is a gold mine for tidal energy. You cannot lose in tidal power. The town of St. Stephen they have all the other forms, particularly solar and wind."

MacKay also attacked the government's deal to study creating, with French firm Areva, a second nuclear reactor in the province.