FREDERICTON – The leader of the Opposition Liberals believes the province should approach Ottawa to ask a loan guarantee to save money on the refurbishment of Point Lepreau nuclear generating station.

Brian Gallant says the Alward government should push for a loan guarantee because the federal government provided one
for the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador.

He says the loan guarantee should be worth the entire cost of the Point Lepreau refurbishment: $2.4 billion.

But Gallant says his position is not an admission that the Harper government should be off the hook for the $1 billion in cost overruns at Point Lepreau.

Energy Minister Craig Leonard says he wonders if Gallant knows what a loan guarantee is.

Leonard says the difference in the borrowing rates between the federal and provincial governments would be very small.

The New Brunswick government has promised to use every means possible to recover the cost overruns, including threats of a possible lawsuit against the federal government.

The plant returned to full service late last month, more than four years after a refurbishment began that was supposed to take only 18 months.