JURNAL, TESIS, ARTICLE OF FOOD HEALTH & PUBLIC HEALTH

    What started as a review of provincial loans for crab fishermen turned personal between two MLAs during today's public accounts committee meeting.

    Auditor general Colin Younker appeared before the committee to present the 2010 auditor general’s report, which included a review of loans and loan guarantees the province gave snow crab fishermen in 2005 and 2006.

    During the presentation, Belfast-Murray River MLA Charlie McGeoghegan questioned whether committee chair Jim Bagnall should sit on the committee during the discussion of the loan review because he was agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture minister at the time they were given.

    “I was just wondering how the committee felt with the chair, being that the chair was the minister of fisheries at the time,” McGeoghegan said.

    But Bagnall said the Treasury Board would have approved the loans and he had nothing to do with it so there was no problem with him sitting through Younker’s report.

“Fisheries did not approve any loans or push through any loans on this,” he said.

None of the other committee members felt Bagnall should leave.

    The snow crab loans were meant to help build the industry on P.E.I., but Younker’s report found there were problems with the way loans were given, including some fishermen who received loans when the guidelines said they shouldn’t have.

    Younker reported there was $17.1 million in loans still outstanding as of Sept. 30, 2009 with most of the fishermen who received assistance owing more than was initially borrowed.

    As McGeoghegan asked questions about correspondence between then premier Pat Binns and Bagnall’s deputy minister, Bagnall asked McGeoghegan, who was a fisherman before entering office, if he had received government loans.

    “Maybe you shouldn’t be on here talking about crab loans either,” Bagnall said.

But McGeoghegan said the committee wasn’t there to talk about him and his question was relevant.

    “You were the minister at the time. That’s a fact,” McGeoghegan said.

    When McGeoghegan tried to continue Bagnall asked if he had a question for Younker and added that if he didn’t he would be out of order.

    “Oh so you weren’t a minute ago? You didn’t have a question for him a minute ago,” McGeoghegan said.

As Younker continued, McGeoghegan said he didn’t have a problem with the fishermen who took advantage of the loans, but objected to the way the loans were managed, which showed a disregard for due diligence in the use of taxpayer money.

    “I don’t blame them for taking the sweetheart deal that was presented to them by the former government but there was no accountability done from what I can see here.”

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2011-02-01/article-2189364/McGeoghegan,-Bagnall-turn-crabby-during-committee-meeting/1