A dozen, at least, that we know of. Dear knows how many more will be coming forward. Absolutely no rules got broken. Nothing happened. Everything is a-okay, but whoops, we have the RCMP investigating several of them. It does not exactly look cleaner than clean to me.
Ignace Saw donated $1,150 to the personal 1997 campaign of the member for Kenora—Rainy River. The Canada jobs fund grant of $250,000 was approved by the minister on December 3, 1999, according to the list made public by the minister. By year's end $150,000 of the grant had already been paid to the company, and on and on it goes.
I mentioned earlier the Scierie Opitciwan sawmill which gave $1,200 to the Liberal Party in 1998, $3,700 to the Liberal Party in 1997 and $164 to the Liberal Party in 1996, for a total of approximately five grand.
Then there was ACOA funding for the Clarenville Regional Sportsplex. This is one that we uncovered not so long ago. This saga continues in Newfoundland as we speak. Here is a little detail about the actual project. The Clarenville Regional Sportsplex is a pool, fitness centre and restaurant. It was given ACOA funding in 1997 and 1998. Clarenville is in the riding of Bonavista—Trinity—Conception, one of the few Liberal ridings left in that area, as far as I know.
Application was made on February 12, 1997. Its evaluation began on April 24, 1997, three days before the writ was dropped, if members recall. The letter of approval for funds came on May 26, 1997, and the offer was accepted June 10, just a week after the federal election. All this stuff was milling around while there was an election going on. If that does not look like political interference, I surely do not know what does.
On April 7, 1997, ACOA sent 75 environmental screening applications to the Department of the Environment for 75 different projects including the sportsplex and requested they all be approved on a rush basis. There was no time to think it through. There was no time for applications. There is an election on. They had to buy a few seats, so they had to get at it.
They said they would appreciate having all the completed environmental screenings no later than April 25, 1997. It looks like someone else knew when the writ was going to drop. I was not exactly sure what day it was, but it looks like they did.
The province planned to announce all approved projects by the end of April 1997 and the election was called just days later. Government contributions were $478,000 from Newfoundland, $478,000 from federal infrastructure funds, $127,000 from the infrastructure program for the cost overrun, and $620,000 from the business development bank.
Federal assistance was $605,000 in grants and $620,000 in loans. That is a fair pile of cash. Total federal assistance was $1.2 million. Whew, the project was one of the largest submitted in the province of Newfoundland. It was to create 40 full time jobs. It appears that no private funds were expended on the centre.
The sportsplex contains a fitness centre, squash courts, a sauna, hot tubs, massage rooms, solariums, a competition size swimming pool, two golf and putting simulators, classrooms, change rooms, a dance studio, a pro shop and a restaurant. Yikes.
On February 28, 2000, just a matter of weeks ago, after less than two years of operation the town of Clarenville confirmed that the sportsplex—I ask my colleague to guess the answer.