No conflict of interest in bank-debt writeoff, Dwight Ball says
Liberal Leader says deal to erase party debt is fully compliant with Elections NL rules
Liberal Leader Dwight Ball is defending a deal to erase the party's debt that includes a write-off of $371,000 in interest charges by three major lending institutions.
Ball confirmed Friday that Scotiabank, CIBC and the Royal Bank has forgiven the interest payments on debt accumulated since the 2003 election campaign.
Critics have charged that the party is now in a conflict of interest with any decisions that may involve those companies, and that the party may have violated Elections NL rules by accepting such a large "donation."
But Ball said that's not the case.
He said Elections NL has signed off on the deal, and as for any perceived conflict of interest, Ball said most decisions relating to the banking industry are made at the federal level.
Ball said the party was also proactive by publicly disclosing details of the deal at the earliest possible time.
And as for suggestions that the banks will receive a tax break by writing off the interest, Ball said that's also not true.
Ball said Elections NL has classified the write-offs as "interest forgiveness," and there will be "no impact on taxpayers."
2014 audited statements released
The Liberals announced Wednesday the party had erased a nearly $900,000 debt, just months ahead of a provincial general election in which the party is favoured to win.
But at the time, Ball refused to say how much money the party had repaid, and how much was written off by the banks.
"I'm not about to be releasing information from a public institution without speaking to those," he said on Wednesday.
That all changed on Friday, however, when the party released its 2014 audited statements, which included details of the debt elimination agreement.
The party has repaid the nearly $500,000 principal, he explained.
Ball said the original plan was to repay the debt over two years, but a successful fundraising campaign allowed the party to finalize the deal with 10 months.
Ball said it was decided to disclose the information after Elections NL officials confirmed they had "no questions" about the statements.
"We are very pleased to report the party is debt-free and the information is out there for the public to review," Ball told On The Go host Ted Blades.
Ball does not believe the deal will taint his party's reputation.
"If we did not put the information out publicly, yes. But we clearly put this out in advance of even having Elections NL post it."
Ball denied suggestions that public pressure stemming from Wednesday's partial disclosure had anything to do with Friday's outpouring of information.
"It was always my intention to pay this debt back and make this information available to the public when I was in a position to do so," he said.
With files from Ted Blades and David Cochrane