Yellowknife (Sep 27/04) - The government of the Northwest Territories has a $36 million secret.

It's the loan portfolio of the NWT Business Credit Corp. (BCC), a taxpayer-financed lender that operates as a near-bank.

No one in government will disclose who has received loans, even though details of other loan and grant programs are tabled in the territorial legislature for public scrutiny.

The most current public information states $9.6 million of the public lender's $36 million in loans is past due.

Afzal Currimbhoy, the corporation's CEO, said not all of the $9.6 million will turn out to be bad debt. In the BCC's 2003 Annual Report, close to $397,000 had been written off.

In 2003, the Legislative Assembly forgave 10 accounts representing nine borrowers, totalling $341,176.

Another $56,310 in loans was written off.

Names of individuals and businesses whose loans were forgiven or written off are made public in BCC's annual report.

"Information received in a confidential manner shall remain confidential until the loan is paid off," said Currimbhoy.

Even after the loan is paid off, Currimbhoy said he would need the client's permission to disclose loan information.

But when asked how successful the Credit Corp. has been in collecting bad debt in the past, Currimbhoy responded, "I don't know.

"I can tell you from the figures we would expect to make a reasonable collection," he said.

"You can get anywhere from 35 through 90 cents on the dollar. It's very broad. Loans can range from a $5,000 loan to a six-figure loan," said Currimbhoy.

Despite the secrecy surrounding the loans, the government is not involved in a cover-up, said Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development Minister Brendan Bell.

"Anytime you have a situation where the information is withheld, rumours do swirl and suspicions are generated. Whether we are involved in covering up who gets loans, is not the case," said Bell.

The minister argues there is a balance to be maintained between public access to information and the need to protect a company's private financial information.

"Somewhere between is the right balance to strike," said Bell.

Disclosure practices

The government also supports territorial businesses with grants and loans made through the Business Development Fund. The details are tabled in the legislature and open to public scrutiny.

Tax dollars are the source of both the Business Development Fund and the Business Credit Corp., so why are they treated differently?

Access to Information co-ordinator Jim Kennedy said the Business Credit Corp. functions as a bank and because the loans are to be repaid, they should remain secret.

"This is not costing the public any money, until it becomes a write-off. Then we will disclose it. In the meantime we're using public money but it's being repaid," he said.

Kennedy said the law prohibits disclosure of "personal finances, income assets, liabilities, net worth, bank balances, financial history or activities or credit worthiness."

But the Act does not state that the names of the companies and loan amounts should be held in confidence.

Territorial legislation and its interpretation differs from federal practise. "I didn't write it," Kennedy said. "I'm the one that has to comply with it."

Bell said the government needs "to clarify and be consistent. If we're going to do it, we need to change our legislation."

Federal approach

Dan Dupuis, director general, investigations and reviews for the federal Information Commissioner, said names of the companies and the amounts of their loans should be available to the public and would be revealed under an access to information request.

"If the feds loan $50 million to Spar Aerospace, then we want to know," he said.

Tim Earle, director general for corporate services with Western Economic Diversification, said a company's private information can be protected while satisfying the need for accountability on public money.

Western Diversification has released the names of borrowers and the loan amounts, but some information is exempt, said Earle.

"We have applied the exemptions under the act, including commercially sensitive and personal information," he said.

Common exemptions under the federal act include information received in confidence from another government, personal information such as someone's age or address and third-party non-relevant information, said Earle.

Territorial officials argue the NWT Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act forbids publication of loan amounts and the identity of borrowers.

News/North has appealed Kennedy's decision to NWT privacy commissioner Elaine Keenan Bengts.