Hopewell Rocks, NB - No one picked Rick Flanagan to carry the flame into the Bay of Fundy.

But then, he didn't expect to catch fire, either.

The provincial interpretive guide was hauling rocks, working on a large Inukshuk in honour of the Olympic Torch Relay that would drop in on this world-recognized natural wonder later in the morning.

The retired air-traffic controller and his rock-sculpture buddy, local photographer Kevin Snair, had managed a number of gravity- and sense-defying balancing acts with the rocks they play with almost every day - and the tides slap down later each day - and he had just settled back with a quiet cigarette to admire his creation when the out-of-towner dropped in early to ask some annoying questions.

The environmentally conscious Flanagan pinched his smoke out and discreetly placed it in the pouch of his red sweatshirt while he talked.

And after a while he began to smoke in another fashion.

"I'm the Olympic Flame!" he shouted while dancing about flailing away at his own gut - too late, two holes as black as squirrel eyes would argue back. Too late.

Slowly, with the immediate fire out, the soft red gravel bottom around the famous formations - Lovers' Arch, The Bear - began filling up with the curious who had come to watch Keith Steeves, former manager of this site and a retired army veteran, hand off the real Olympic flame to Brazilian gold-medal swimmer Cesar Cielo while Brazil television and a hundred tiny digital cameras recorded the event.

Rick Flanagan took the opportunity to explain to the out-of-towner where, exactly, he was standing.

"These rocks are 300-million years old," he said. "They've been formed by 100-billion tons of water flowing through here with two tides a day. These are not just the highest tides in the world, but the most powerful.

"It's a huge untapped resource."

They have talked about harnessing the Bay of Fundy power since the 1920s. Its 16-metre tides are five to 10 times that of the rest of the world, but apart from one small station and some current experiments with modern turbines, nothing has ever been done to capture, seriously, what may be the world's greatest untapped energy source.

"It's inevitable that it will happen," said Flanagan. "There's just too much potential here. The technology exists; you just need the finances and the will. All you need is for oil to go to $140 a barrel again and the capital will be found."

Nova Scotia has invested millions in past studies and current experiments and there has long been talk of New Brunswick getting away from some of its "dirty" energy sources by turning to the cleaner potential of the Bay of Fundy tides.

In fact, power is a major topic of discussion as the Olympic Torch begins to wind its way through this "have-not" province. The provincial government would like to sell off NB Power to Hydro-Quebec in a deal potentially worth $10-billion. It would solve the province's immediate deficit problems, but Premier Shawn Graham and his ministers, along with certain provincial business leaders, argue that the controversial deal would still make financial sense in the long run. But, so far, the people of New Brunswick aren't convinced. They do not appear to be buying into the plan any more than are the concerned premiers of neighboring provinces, foremost among them Newfoundland and Labrador's Danny Williams. The talk shows on the topic are mostly negative and more than a 1,000 New Brunswickers showed up recently to protest the impending agreement at the provincial legislature in Fredericton.

A decision to tackle, finally, the nearly century-old dream of harnessing this remarkable resource would be controversial in that context, but also in another. There is so much marine life in the Bay of Fundy - 12 species of whale feed here in the summer and the marine biodiversity has been compared to the Amazon Rainforest - that any action that might disturb marine life would have to be closely examined. Hydro-electric is far cleaner than the coal-based electricity that charges areas of the Maritimes but it is not entirely without issue when it comes to the environment.

That reality could even get stickier if some of the people gathered here this day - Rick Flanagan included - are able to get their beloved Bay of Fundy named one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

"New7Wonders of Nature" is an international website campaign that began in 2007 and has whittled down 440 nominations to a list of 28, with final voting and decision due in 2011. (Canadians can vote by going to www.votemyfundy.com.)

The Bay of Fundy is the only Canadian entry to survive the cuts, but is up against such formidable competition as the Grand Canyon, Ayers Rock, the Amazon, the Galapagos, Mount Kilimanjaro and the Great Barrier Reef.

Rick Flanagan will be voting for it, but the results don't really matter to him.

This place has always been a wonder to him - and always will be.

It's a flame that burns deep inside, far deeper than any sweatshirt, far brighter than any torch. And never, ever goes out.