Province Approves Write-offs for 2010-11

The province is writing off $16.2 million in debts that were considered unpaid or uncollectible as of March 31, 2010.

"Write-offs are a routine accounting process as part of preparing the province's public accounts and do not impact Nova Scotia's deficit or surplus position," said Finance Minister Graham Steele. "Although written off from an accounting point of view, the province will continue its efforts to collect the debts."

Debts are written off each year when it is determined that they are unlikely to be paid in cases of personal or commercial bankruptcy, death of the debtor or property foreclosure.

Nine departments have write-offs for things such as student loans, farm loans, pharmacare premiums and unpaid fees.

The Department of Agriculture has the largest write-off, with $10.3 million. This unusually high amount is due to defaulted hog loan accounts under the Farm Loan Board.

For many years, hog farming in Nova Scotia was heavily subsidized by government. When government support was discontinued in 2007-08 many hog farmers were unable to sustain their business due to low pork prices and rising production costs.

The Farm Loan Board attempts to recover debts owing through the sale of property held as security, however write-offs are necessary when this is insufficient in achieving full recovery of the debt.

To address the issue of sustainable agriculture in the province, government has released the Homegrown Success plan as part of the jobsHere strategy. This plan is a vision for the future of Nova Scotia agriculture and will ensure programs and initiatives are based on research, best practice and innovation.

A fact sheet listing all departmental write-offs is available at www.gov.ns.ca/finance .