Fentie Piles on the Debt

15-Jan-2010

Whitehorse – Premier Fentie’s decision to borrow just under $120 million should be cause for concern for every Yukoner, says Arthur Mitchell, Leader of the Official Opposition. Yesterday the President of the Yukon Development Corporation confirmed it will be borrowing $52.5 million to help finance the Mayo B hydro expansion. This is in addition to the $67 million the Yukon Hospital Corporation is borrowing to build three new facilities.

“The amount of interest paid on these loans will run into the tens of millions of dollars,” he said. “It is wrong for the Premier to saddle future taxpayers with this kind of debt.”

Mitchell said the Official Opposition has been asking the government for months how it planned to come up with its portion of the money for Mayo B and was never given an answer. “We finally know now that the plan is to saddle future generations of Yukoners with debt for the next 30 years,” said Mitchell. “The Premier is focused too much on trying to win the next election and not enough on doing the right thing for taxpayers.”

Mitchell noted the Premier has chosen to have crown corporations do the borrowing to ensure the debt doesn’t show up immediately on the government’s main estimates, the budget. 

“The Premier wants to be able to present an accumulated surplus when he go goes into the legislature in March and if this $120 million was included he would not be able to do so,” he said. “He’s using sleight of hand to try and make the numbers look better than they are.”

In the fall of 2003 the Fentie government changed the Taxpayer Protection Act to allow the government to spend more money without being in violation of the act. The act prevents the government from running into debt.

“A few years ago the Premier simply moved the goals posts,” Mitchell said. “Under the old act, the one brought in by Mr. Ostashek, if these loans were on the government books the Premier would be legally bound to call an election because we’d be in debt. There’s an old expression for what Mr. Fentie is doing – he’s cooking the books.”

Mitchell concluded by pointing out the $36 million in bad ABCP investments would come in handy now but that money is not available because of the Premier’s reckless investment strategy.

For additional information contact:
Jason Cunning 667-8942