5 hot topics for the P.E.I. government and the 'Tory time machine'

Partway through the second of three days of being taken to task for government decisions made years before he was ever elected, P.E.I.'s Economic Development Minister Heath MacDonald seemed to have had enough.

"I know that the Opposition keeps getting into a time machine and going back to 2008," MacDonald said during question period in the legislature last Thursday.

"That's eight years ago that they're asking questions on. I know they keep digging, but everything's above board with this government of the day."

In this particular case, the Opposition's time machine was set for October 28, 2008the day the P.E.I. cabinet approved a $30 million loan to Dyne Holdings to finance construction of the Holman GrandHotel and other downtown properties.

As P.E.I.'s auditor general pointed out in her 2016 report, the province's lending agency, Island Investment Development Inc., had flagged a number of significant issues with the loan application, including concerns over whether there would be enough cash generated from the development to cover debt repayments, and whether cost overruns could further affect the borrower's ability to service the debt.

In 2014, cabinet approved a restructured loan of $38.6 million, which the province indicatesis in good standing.

As of March 31, 2015, the balance on government's books was $35.5 million. At that time, there was a provision for loss from the loan of $10.6 million. The auditor general says that loss provision is reassessed on an annual basis.

There were further references to the time machine over the next two days, with MLA StevenMyersclarifying on Friday it is indeed aDeLoreanjust like in the Back to the Future movies.

As long as the time machine is warmed up and the plutonium chamber is full, here are some more dates the Opposition might want to enter into the console.

Balanced budget

April 23, 2008: In his spring budget address, former Finance Minister Wes Sheridan said government's "steady and cautious approach to both revenue and expenditure management will result in fiscal balance in the relative shortterm."

In 2010, he said government was taking "decisive action to restore fiscal balance" within four years.

To date, there has not been a balanced budget tabled since the Ghiz government came to power.

In its 2015 throne speech, the government of Wade MacLauchlan promised a balanced budget in the spring of 2016.

High speed internet

November 12, 2008: The Robert Ghiz government announced it had entered into an $8.3million agreement with BellAliant that would see the company extend its broadband internet service to all areas of the Island.

The company says it did that in 2010 by makingup to 1.5 Mbps available to every home in PEI.

Nearly eight years later, the federal government announced it was providing $1.6 million to provide broadband internet access to 12,000 rural households in P.E.I. but with a company called Xplornet. It's not yet clear what exact areas of P.E.I.Xplornetplans to cover.

HST

September 23, 2011: Gerard Greenan, running for the Liberals in the provincial election, said in an online debate that a new Ghiz government would not implement the HST in a second mandate.

Earlier in the campaign, Ghiz himself had said during a leaders' debate that he would consider the HST, but the implementation offer from Ottawa was unacceptable. He denied charges his government was negotiating a deal for the tax with Ottawa in secret.

The next year, government announced the HST was coming.

The Opposition Tories say they're certain the HST rate will increase from 14 to 15 per cent in the 2016 P.E.I. budget.

E-gaming

December 12, 2011: The date of a loan agreement between the P.E.I. government and the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of PEI. Government provided $950,000 to the Confederacy "to finance the continued development and establishment of an interactive gaming regulatory and taxation model." The model never came to fruition and as a result the money, following the terms of the agreement, was never paid back.

A related lawsuit against the government for $25 million was tossed from P.E.I. Supreme Court with the applicant promising to refile.

An e-gaming investigative report from the auditor general is forthcoming.

Freedom of Information

June 3, 2015: One of the pledges made by the MacLauchlan government in its first speech from the throne is a review of Freedom of Information legislation. No review has yet taken place.

There was no similar mention in the 2016 speech from the throne. Government says the review has been pushed back due to the number of public consultations already underway.

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