In reading the forum article on Nov. 3 ("NB Power deal: good news, not bad"), one can't help but think how fortunate we are to be educated once again by a Toronto-based energy consultant.

Seriously, how stupid does Tom Adams think we are down here in this neck of the woods? He says, presumably with a straight face, that we should turn this to our advantage by simply negotiating a transmission deal with Quebec. Well, there you go, problem solved!

Perhaps he doesn't quite have the same appreciation as we do of how our negotiations with Quebec have gone in the past. Perhaps he doesn't appreciate how the morality of the Upper Churchill would sicken any objective observer. Perhaps he doesn't appreciate how every federal government has failed to do absolutely anything to help this province in its development of the Lower Churchill.

Yes, indeed, the solution is to simply work out a constructive deal with Quebec! Messieur Adams and his co-author, Brian Lee Crawley, describe our premier's reservations about dealing with Quebec as "ranting about a disputable version of ancient history."

The audacity of the statement is incredible. All this is being said at the very time when Quebec continues to obstruct every effort this province makes to gain fair access to Quebec's power lines.

The famous quote comes to mind: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Well, thanks again for the advice, gentlemen, but perhaps at the risk of being crude, you know what you can do with it.

Paul Green

St. John's