Tag Archives: lending program
$10M spent by N.B. government to expunge crab fishermen’s loans
Documents obtained by Radio-Canada reveal that from 2000 to 2008, the New Brunswick government spent $10 million to erase the debts of 15 crab fishermen, amassed in the 1980s and 1990s as part of a lending program through the department of Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Fisheries. The total amount forgiven was $10,769,225. Seventeen crab fishermen received $15 million in public funds in the form of loans and loan guarantees for the construction of fishing boats. Fifteen weren’t able to repay their loans. Several fishermen sold their boats, and three boats were seized by the province. Only one fisherman was able to honour this loan guarantee, valued at $500,000. One of the 17 loans, granted in 1984, is still outstanding. The original amount loaned by the New Brunswick government was $687,323 and has since climbed to $880,569 with interest. Read the rest here 20:47
