The bankruptcy of Lake Diefenbaker Potato Corporation won’t be investigated by the Saskatchewan government auditor soon.
At a June 14 meeting, the legislature’s all-party public accounts committee voted against an immediate special investigation.
The Saskatchewan and Liberal parties had called for such action, but the motion was voted down by the committee’s NDP majority.
The government’s involvement in the failed venture will likely be examined when provincial auditor Wayne Strelioff looks at Sask Water in detail.
Owed millions
Sask Water invested about $10 million in the corporation. It, along with Farm Credit Corporation, is a secured creditor. The two are owed a total of $18.5 million.
Lake Diefenbaker owes creditors $35 million, but has assets of about $11 million.
Meanwhile, unsold potato inventory was being dumped on farmers’ fields last week. According to media reports, about 50,000 hundredweight were expected to be spread on fields in the Lucky Lake area as the corporation has to vacate the storage facility by July 3.
The trustee in bankruptcy, KPMG, has sold about one-third of the 635,000 hundredweight left in storage when the corporation entered receivership in early May.
