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In 2013, the amount of new debt the town could take on (something towns commonly do to pay for things such as new road construction, ice rinks and community centres) sat at -$775,422.

With a negative repayment limit, the municipality shouldn’t be able to take on any more loans. However, in 2016, the most recent year that an ARL has been calculated for the town, that amount decreased even further to -$1.102 million.

Walking through the picturesque town on a recent afternoon produced several stories from concerned residents about their experiences with municipal officials who they claim are simply ignoring the financial calamity that looms over the municipality.

However, with neighbours or family members working either at the utility or for the municipality, finding someone from the small town to speak out publicly about their concerns is difficult. Most fear reprisals that could affect their businesses or family life.

What started out as a promise of opportunity has ended as a heavy anchor that threatens to pull the small town and its residents down over the decades ahead.

It will likely take far more than the 122 days of electricity generating sunshine that the Northern community gets annually to battle its way out of this situation.

The CMHC, meanwhile, refuses to provide an update on the current status of the loan.

Officials now say the details of the disbursement, between the federal government and a municipality, are protected by privacy and information laws and as a result, no information will be shared. That marks an about-face for the federal department. In the past it has provided detailed updates about the status of this very loan.

Émilie Gauduchon-Campbell, press secretary for Jean-Yves Duclos, the minister responsible for the CMHC, responded to questions about ensuring the repayment of the $49.5 million of taxpayers’ money as follows.

“This program has been put in place by the Conservatives and is no longer active,” she said in an emailed statement. “Our government is currently working hard on developing the first National Housing Strategy in Canada’s history, and we are showing the most ambitious federal leadership in almost a half-century. We are back in housing —with more ambition, more money and a greater desire to collaborate.”

The government announced its National Housing Strategy last week.

Guest, the Ottawa consultant, did not respond to repeated requests for comment on this story.

Lowry, who remains the head of North Shore Power, continues to collect an undisclosed salary. He doesn’t live within the municipality. He has a home about seven hours away in London, Ont., and commutes to the town as needed. He declined to tell the Citizen how long he has been living in London.

As for Ambeault, the town councillor, it’s easy to spot the potholes that brought the town to where it is today while looking back. However he has hope that the town, which was incorporated in 1906, will still pull through this situation unscathed.

“Did the $25-million investment in Plasco work well for us? No. Did we anticipate this? No. To say that we lost it? Not really. If Mr. Bryden is making the payment then there is still some hope that he can pull it off,” said Ambeault. “What are the statistics in Canadian business? 95 per cent go bankrupt in the first five years. Why does that happen? I guess everybody is chasing a dream.”

Further compounding the issue in the town is an apparently adversarial relationship between town officials and critics of how the money was spent. Walking through the town’s streets, the Citizen found no shortage of people willing to complain about the situation and the uncertainty facing the municipality as it inches toward 2037. However, few were willing to speak out publicly.

One of the most vocal critics was a local lawyer named Andre Berthelot, who ran against Jensen in 2014 on a campaign to shed more light on the loan, the impact it’s had on the town and how it was ultimately spent.

In 2015, when Plasco filed for protection from its creditors and the state of the town’s investment in the firm seemed precarious, Berthelot penned an open letter to numerous publications demanding the resignation of North Shore Power Group chief executive officer Graeme Lowry, or failing that, a “sworn declaration” that Lowry, an employee at the publicly owned utility, has not derived any benefit from the town’s dealings with Plasco.

Berthelot received a reply from Lowry’s lawyer, Paul Schabas at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto, demanding he rescind his statements. The law firm also represents North Shore Power.

“This is an astonishing statement,” reads the letter sent to Berthelot from Schabas. “On behalf of Mr. Lowry, this is to demand that you immediately circulate and publish a full apology and retraction of the statements you made. … Mr. Lowry is suffering serious harm to his reputation as a result of your statements, making this a matter of great urgency.”

Blake, Cassels & Graydon is the same firm that was retained to handle the town’s investment in Plasco. A cheque for $25 million was issued from the town’s account to the law firm in October 2011.

Berthelot complied with the demands of Lowry’s legal counsel. He has been silent about the issue since.

When asked by the Citizen whether he has derived any personal or financial benefit as a result of the monies loaned to the town by CMHC Lowry replied, stating, “no.”