Rocky Simpson may have just ousted incumbent Wally Schumann as MLA for Hay River South but the MLA-elect still faces another challenge. He owes nearly $2,000,000 to the territorial government — a debt he didn’t disclose to voters on the campaign trail.
According to court documents obtained by News/North, Simpson’s company Concept Energy Services Ltd. entered into a loan agreement with the Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC), a GNWT Crown corporation.
“Up until and including the month of November, 2018 Concept Energy Services Ltd. failed to make 59 out of 93 recurring monthly payments since the loan was originally advanced in 2011,” reads a statement of claim from the BDIC.
“Concept Energy Services Ltd. has missed every scheduled monthly payment starting in September 2017,” continues the claim.
NWT Supreme Court judge Karan Shaner ordered Simpson and his companies to pay a total of $1,885,955.03 on June 28, 2019.
Hay River-based Concept Energy Services Ltd. rents out industrial equipment, while manufacturing and installing modular homes.
In November 2017, The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation cut ties with Concept Energy Services Ltd. The authority ended its contract with the company after it failed to deliver all of the promised 19 modular homes it was expected to deliver to NWT communities between March and June 2017.
Simpson was awarded the contract in June 2016.
See full story, including interview with Rocky Simpson in Monday's News/North. Available to subscribers online in PDF format Saturday at 2 p.m.