Saskatchewan residents who opposed a provincial government investment in the hog industry have another 11 million reasons to cry foul.
According to court documents, Big Sky Farms Inc. and Stomp Pork Farms, the province’s two largest pork producers, owed the provincial government, government agencies and provincially owned utility companies $11 million when they sought creditor protection.
When it filed for protection from creditors in 2008, Stomp had unsecured debts totalling nearly $8.5 million, which included a $5 million debt to Saskatchewan Agriculture, $8,500 to SaskTel and more than $221,000 to SaskEnergy, the provincial gas company, according to the court documents.
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Big Sky racked up unsecured debts of nearly $20 million, including bills worth nearly $5.9 million to the province, provincial utility companies and provincial government agencies.
Big Sky’s unsecured bills included a $4.6 million debt to Saskatchewan Agriculture, $158,000 to
SaskEnergy and $780,000 to SaskPower, the provincially owned electrical utility, the documents said.
The company also had a $31,000 debt to Manitoba Hydro and debts to 26 rural municipalities worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
Under a court-approved creditor repayment plan, unsecured creditors who had outstanding accounts worth more than $40,000 will receive 10 cents for every dollar they were owed.
Even before Big Sky’s restructuring, Saskatchewan taxpayers were heavily invested in the company.
The provincial government invested $30 million between 1997 and 2007, including a $3.5 million investment by the Saskatchewan Party government in 2007 and more than $26 million by the former NDP government.
Prior to Big Sky’s financial restructuring, the province owned a 62.8 percent share in the company.
Big Sky will now operate as eight limited partnerships, which is intended to minimize financial risk and capitalize on federal funding through the AgriStability program, according to the company’s restructuring plan.
