Bas-Caraquet shipyard's money woes draw Atcon comparisons

Take a group of Liberal cabinet ministers, millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies and some unpaid suppliers — and people are going to mention the "A word."

As in "Atcon."

The mystery surrounding money problems at the New Brunswick Naval Centre in Bas-Caraquet has prompted many critics of the current Liberal government to draw a parallel to that 2009-2010 fiasco, a legacy of the last Liberal government.

"You know this is very much resembling what happened with respect to Atcon," Progressive Conservative MLA Trevor Holder said on Wednesday.

There are some eerie Atcon echoes, but the two cases are different in other ways.

Here are four similarities between the Atcon fiasco and the Bas-Caraquet shipyard issue:

1. The minister

Victor Boudreau was the Liberal cabinet minister in the Shawn Graham government who signed away the province's security on the loan guarantees in a last-ditch attempt to save Atcon from collapse.

He and his fellow Liberals did it against the advice of civil servants, exposing the provincial government to huge losses. Today, Boudreau is the minister responsible for the Regional Development Corp., the agency that announced $4 million in funding in May for infrastructure upgrades at the naval centre.

So far, Boudreau has not commented on the situation.

2. The deputy minister

Bill Levesque was the top civil servant at Business New Brunswick in 2009-10, when he and other officials warned the elected Liberal politicians they were risking tens of millions of dollars helping a company on the verge of collapse.

Today, Levesque has the top job at RDC.

Though he wasn't in the position when the Gallant government approved the $4 million for the shipyard, he's now leading the effort to resolve the money problems.

3. The motive

Liberal ministers in the 2006-10 Shawn Graham government repeatedly justified their decision to ignore warnings from the civil service by pointing to the desperate need for jobs in Miramichi.

This week, Caraquet Liberal MLA Hédard Albert said the Bas-Caraquet shipyard "will create jobs in our area, where we really need them."

4. The unpaid suppliers

In 2009, many of Atcon's suppliers complained they were never paid. Today, three companies that did work for the naval centre are waiting for their money, too.

"I don't think it's right that they're leaving people hanging, and not paying us," John Porter, owner of a construction consulting company near Bathurst, told CBC News last week.

3 differences with Atcon

Despite those similarities, there are some important differences between the shipyard situation and the Atcon fiasco:

1. Less money

The main package of loan guarantees to Atcon approved in 2009 was $50 million, though the final cost to taxpayers was higher because of other subsidies and because the province had agreed to cover losses on an Atcon bridge project in the Northwest Territories.

By comparison, the RDC money for the shipyard is only $4 million and it's not clear if any of that money has even been handed over yet.

On the other hand, Albert wouldn't rule out the shipyard needing more provincial money to survive.

2. Less risk

There's more taxpayer money on deck for the shipyard project: $3.8 million in payroll rebates from Opportunities New Brunswick for a Quebec company that will have its ships repaired at the yard.

But that money will only be paid once the facility is operating.

"It's risk-free," Opportunities NB chief executive officer Stephen Lund explained last week.

"We only pay money out after a company has employed people, after the people have paid taxes." Atcon got loan guarantees, which meant the province had to pay up when the company was unable to pay off its bank.

Indeed, Atcon was one reason the PC government of David Alward shifted subsidies to a system of payroll rebates.

3. Transparency

There was so much apprehension about Atcon's problems in 2009 that the Graham government was unusually candid about the details of its loan guarantees.

Contrast that with the current shipyard file, in which the province has said only that there are "conditions that have to be met" and has refused to provide specifics.

Of course, all the transparency in the world didn't protect Atcon from collapsing in 2010.

Atcon comparisons aside, Holder is holding his fire on the shipyard, perhaps because the PC government of David Alward, in which he was a minister, also touted the project just before last year's election.

But crucially, all the Tories said back then was that they would "consider" supporting it. It was the Gallant Liberals that committed money.

Now, Holder says, "we're certainly going to monitor it as it goes on."