February 09, 2011
AECL seeks another $175M from taxpayers
Amy Minsky
Post Media News
DND wants $217M to buy Nortel site, estimates disclose
Canada’s beleaguered nuclear Crown corporation, Atomic Energy Canada Limited, is asking Parliament to approve $175.4 million on top of the $696 million it has already been granted for this fiscal year, according to financial documents tabled by the government Tuesday.
Some other major items in supplementary spending estimates include nearly $217 million in funding to cover the acquisition of a new National Defence headquarters building at the former Nortel site on Carling Avenue and $150 million to Human Resources to cover writeoffs for unrecoverable student loans.
Those, together with the disclosed increase of $866 million in program spending which automatically passes without Parliament’s approval (for programs such as employment insurance and student loans), brings the total estimated federal spending for 2010-11 to $266 billion — up from government’s initial estimate of $259 billion it tabled nearly one year ago.
But parliamentary committees review funding requests before granting final approval. And that may not happen with AECL, which has been crippled by cost overruns and low sales, said NDP natural resources critic Nathan Cullen.
The government has been interested in getting the troubled Crown corporation off its books for some time.
A bidding process for AECL’s reactor division, which builds its flagship Candu reactors, was launched in December 2009.
If Parliament approves the requested $175.4 million, AECL’s authorities for the fiscal year will climb to nearly $872 million — a figure Cullen said is roughly $500 million over budget.
“Considering government wants out of the isotope business, they sure are spending a lot of money,” he said. “It’s breathtaking, the amount of money being poured into this black hole while the government’s trying to sell it.”
Although AECL’s labs in Chalk River, Ont. — which produce medical isotopes — aren’t currently on the block, they too have been riddled with problems and contributed to the corporation being a strain on the public purse.
Among other things, a reactor there — the world’s oldest operating reactor, in fact — returned to service in August 2010 following a 15-month, $72-million breakdown that crippled the global supply of medical isotopes.
Still, the Crown corporation says another $175 million is needed to “support costs associated with isotope production … addressing infra-structure and operation upgrades … and developing new build reactor technology.”
Even if government succeeds in selling the portions of AECL up for grabs, there’s no guarantee it will be for anything near the amount being invested, Cullen said. “There is no chance taxpayers are going to recoup this investment,” he said.
Providing Parliament approves, taxpayers will also be on the hook for the nearly $217 million government says it needs to cover closing costs and property taxes for the new National Defence headquarters, the tabled documents show.
Taxpayers will also be held for covering 61,791 unrecoverable debts related to Canada Student Loans. Those debts cover a three-year period and represent less than one per cent of the total Canada Student Loan portfolio, according to the documents.
This is the third time government has tabled supplementary spending estimates, which are intended to reflect refined spending requirements and additional funding required for particular programs or services. The main estimates, tabled in March 2009, pegged government spending at $259 billion. That figure increased by almost $7 billion.
