Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 28/05) - The Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corp. has identified 100 companies that borrowed more than $25 million from a taxpayer-financed lender of last resort.

The disclosure capped a year of applications by Northern News Services through access to information laws and marked a complete reversal of the government's position.

Pawan Chugh, BDIC's chief executive officer, said in a letter to Northern News that the corporation released the information after the borrowers failed to reply to a letter requesting their views on disclosure.

Another 10 companies have asked Information and Privacy commissioner Elaine Keenan-Bengts to review the decision to identify borrowers and the amounts of their loans, Chugh said.

Bruce Valpy, managing editor of Northern News Services, which publishes Yellowknifer and News/North, said: "Not only did the government misinterpret the legislation and try to keep the names secret, they assumed companies would want to hide the fact they had received a perfectly legitimate government loan."

In her latest report to the NWT legislative assembly, Keenan-Bengts was critical of the way the government dealt with the request for disclosure.

The information commissioner had recommended that the government identify borrowers. That advice was dismissed, a move Keenan-Bengts called "disingenuous."

The commissioner's recommendations aren't binding on the government, but if public officials continue to ignore them, access to information laws "could lose all effectiveness, and the commissioner all respectability."

"This kind of response cannot be allowed to hijack the system," she warned in her report.

The $25 million in loans were made between 1999 and 2004 by the NWT Business Credit Corp., predecessor to the Business Development and Investment Corp.

Unlike the BDIC, which requires borrowers to accept disclosure of their identities and loans, BCC kept the information confidential unless borrowers defaulted on the loan.

Chugh was unable to say how many of the 100 companies that failed to respond to the corporation's letter are still in business.

The last annual report for the Business Credit Corporation shows that it made $7.7 million in loans in the 2004-05 fiscal year, well below the target of $22 million.

BCC's deficit at the end of March 2005 was $3.09 million, a $500,000 improvement over the previous year.

The clients

NWT Business Credit Corporation clients who received financial assistance between 1999 and 2004 and did not appeal the corporation's decision to disclose requested information.

Company Amount Raven's Pub $25,000 NWT Ltd. $50,000 Air Norterra Inc. $2,000,000 Akaitcho Business Development Corporation $950,000 ATS Services Ltd. $50,000 ATS Services Ltd. $100,000 Big River Air Ltd. $125,000 Big River Air Ltd. $300,000 Borderline Enterprises Ltd. $40,000 Bouchard Holdings Ltd. $25,000 Bouchard Holdings Ltd. $135,000 Bushmaster Catering Company Ltd. $75,000 C&D Home Maintenance Supplies Ltd. $37,000 Canada North Agencies Ltd. $193,000 Cedar Rest Hotel $105,272 Champ Construction Ltd. $43,500 Champ Construction Ltd. $82,320 Champ Construction Ltd. $120,000 Color Works Salon and Health Spa Ltd. $21,000 Color Works Salon and Health Spa Ltd. $179,000 Cozy Carpets & Interior Ltd. $160,000 Crafts and Such Ltd. $49,600 Craig Boyer Enterprises Ltd. $48,000 Craig Boyer Enterprises Ltd. $61,000 Crosscurrent Environmental Services Ltd. $200,000 David Storr & Sons Contracting Ltd. $60,000 David Storr & Sons Contracting Ltd. $38,914.51 DDA Northern Safety Services Ltd. $200,000 Deh Gah Got'ie Betterment Corporation $200,000 Deline Construction Ltd. $200,000 Denendeh Investments Inc. $300,000 Deton 'Cho Diamonds Inc. $1,000,000 DL Services Ltd. $381,350 Document Security Systems Ltd. $198,000 Doug Cardinal Consulting Ltd. $200,000 Evans Electric Ltd. $35,000 FC Services Ltd. $25,000 Flash Point Facilitators Ltd. $15,729 Great Slave Animal Hospital Ltd. $437,000 Hardisty Petroleum 2002 Ltd. $150,000 Hardisty Petroleum 2002 Ltd. $50,000 Hay River Hotel (1998) Ltd. $231,000 Holman Eskimo Co-op Ltd. $148,000 James Company Ltd. $236,000 K&K Contracting Ltd. $25,000 Kila Enterprises Ltd. $158,000 Kunnek Resources Development Corporation $70,000 Kunnek Resources Development Corp. $60,000 Kunnek Resources Development Corp. $75,000 Kunnek Resources Development Corp. $160,000 Little Buddy Daycare Centre Inc. $25,000 Maskwa Engineering Ltd. $198,000 McLeod Holdings Ltd. $65,000 Mountain River Outfitters Inc. $25,000 Mountain River Outfitters Inc. $20,000

Naha Deh Enterprises Ltd. $500,000 Nats'enelu Ltd. $100,000 Nogha Enterprises Ltd. $199,000 Norman Wells Petroleum Ltd. $200,000 Northern Maintenance Ltd. $50,000 Northern Solutions Inc. $68,232 Northshore Coffee and Water Ltd. $107,000 Oopik Tours and Adventures Ltd. $200,000 P&G Services Ltd. $10,000 Prevost Electric Ltd. $15,000 Prevost Electric Ltd. $25,000 Rabesca Resources Ltd. $152,000 Rampart Rentals Ltd. $275,000 Reflections Ltd. $157,315 Reflections Ltd. $35,750 SLFN Land Corporation (NT) Ltd. $7,750 South Slave Metis Economic Corporation Ltd. $137,500 South Slave Paving Ltd. $540,000 The Carpet Shoppe (1983) Ltd. $540,000 The Fish Gate Ltd. $109,000 The Fish Gate Ltd. $142,000 The Fish Gate Ltd. $29,900 Trapper's Hideaway Ltd. $113,000 Triple D Holdings Ltd. $180,000 Twin Falls Inn Ltd. $198,500 Vinh Trinh Quyen Inc. $25,000 W&L Emporium Ltd. $170,000 Food Town Super Market $200,000 Pages $171,000 Pages $200,000 Dogrib Rae Band $425,000 Hotel Tuk Inn $285,000 Broadway on 51st $85,000 Rapid Travel $140,000 Rapid Travel $84,000 AJ's Electrical $103,000 Poison Painting $25,000 Trapper Trucking $180,000 Trapper Trucking $28,000 Raven's Pub $625,000 The Hay River Bakery (2003) Ltd. $150,000 Cabinets North $129,800 Jose Locos $174,000 Jose Locos $40,000 Ferguson Simek Clark $1,000,000 Taiga Tour Company $200,000 Pinecrest Hotel $15,000 NWT Ltd. $161,000 JR Enterprises $200,000 Pelican Rapids $50,000 Pelican Rapids $63,000 S&E Construction $60,000 Arctic Oasis $10,000 The Black Knight Pub $250,000 Westwind Recreation $200,000 Muskox Products Company $700,000 Muskox Products Company $490,000 Fort Simpson Beverages $170,000 Fort Simpson Beverages $95,000 902811 NWT Ltd. $200,000 Enterprise Plumbing and Heating $171,000 Northern Performance Small Engine $3,300 Northern Performance Small Engine $57,600 Northern Performance Small Engine $17,000 MacKenzie Hotel $1,000,000 Norland Aviation Ltd. $90,000 Norland Aviation Ltd. $650,000 West Delta Property Management Ltd. $595,000 Western Arctic Lock and Safe Ltd. $53,000 Xah Ndah Resources Limited $25,000 Xah Ndah Resources Limited $75,000 Xah Ndah Resources Limited $223,000 Yamouri Inn Ltd. $450,000 Yamouri Inn Ltd. $275,000 Yellowknife Golf Club Co-op Ltd. $197,800