MACHIAS – In a strongly worded letter to the governor, the Washington County commissioners this week took aim at Canada in an effort to blow its opposition to LNG ships in Head Harbour Passage out of the water.

Gov. John Baldacci Wednesday fired his own warning shot across Canada’s bow.

Baldacci sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins seeking the help of Maine’s congressional delegation to request that the U.S. Department of State weigh in on the issue of whether Canada can restrict U.S. ships’ access to international waters.

“I believe a strong statement on the part of the U.S. government is needed to counter the Canadian assertion of authority to prohibit any form of commercial activity they do not want over international waterways that pass through these waters,” the governor wrote. “Allowing the Canadian action to stand unchallenged could undercut the foundation of international maritime law and create a precedent that could politicize international trade.”

The governor noted that if Canada were allowed to dictate the size and type of vessels that can use Head Harbour Passage, they also could “dictate the economic future of Eastport. … This is an unacceptable situation for the state of Maine.”

Last month, the New Brunswick government submitted a motion to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requesting that the commission terminate its review of two liquefied natural gas terminals proposed on Passamaquoddy Bay.

Right now there are two projects working their way through the system – the Oklahoma-based Quoddy Bay LNG which has proposed building a terminal at Pleasant Point with a tank farm in nearby Perry and the Washington, D.C.-based Downeast LNG, which wants to build a facility in Robbinston.

Also last month, the federal government of Canada announced it intended to take legal action against the proposed LNG terminals. In a letter to FERC, the Canadian ambassador said his government would “not permit LNG tankers to pass through Head Harbour Passage.”

The county commissioners fired back in a statement released this week that the Canadian government’s stance “goes far beyond the LNG issue. It traverses into the realm of protectionist foreign policy and the pattern of government subsidies that Canada has been allowed to suffer upon the people of Maine for much too long.”

The commissioners took issue with the province’s support of Irving Oil Limited’s efforts to build a similar facility near Saint John, N.B., and with the province’s effort to refurbish the Point Lepreau Nuclear Power Plant in the face of criticism.

“This is about Canada attempting to impose its will in order to protect its own interest,” the commissioners said in their statement. “The county commissioners cannot stress our displeasure with the actions of the Canadian officials strongly enough. We agree that the Canadian Government has a duty and responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of their citizens. However, it cannot, and will not, be at the expense of the people of Washington County.”

In response to the commissioners’ charges, Canada’s federal Member of Parliament Greg Thompson replied that Canada is a sovereign nation and that Head Harbour is Canadian water, and therefore it is Canada’s business.

Nicole Picot, speaking on behalf of N.B. Premier Shawn Graham, said the premier and the governor would agree to disagree. “I think I would expect both leaders would work hard to fight diligently for their constituency,” she said in a telephone interview.