The sale of Blachford Lake Lodge through a year-long insolvency process is set to result in almost no repayment of any debt other than a partial payment to Prosper NWT.
Documentation filed this month by BDO, the company overseeing the insolvency process, shows that a sale of the lodge and associated assets raised $1.2 million after the spring 2023 collapse of Taiga Sports Fishing, the company owned by Mike Freeland that ran the lodge.
Among that revenue is the acquisition of the lodge late last year by Nunavut-based tour operator Arctic Kingdom.
The figures suggest the lodge sold for far less than the $3.9-million price tag it was briefly given before a realtor’s listing was taken down as the insolvency process began.
The sum available to pay creditors is much lower than the $1.2 million raised through the sale process, because that revenue is also covering a range of other costs.
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For example, BDO has taken more than $400,000 in fees to oversee the insolvency, while consultants have been paid $126,000 and a further $93,000 has been spent on legal fees.
Insurance and travel costs together account for a further $75,000.
Ultimately, only about $410,000 is left to give to creditors.
Prosper NWT, formerly the NWT Business Development and Investment Corporation, was owed well over $1 million by Taiga.
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As a result, almost all of the remaining cash will be assigned to Prosper NWT if a court approves BDO’s proposal this month. The exceptions are tiny sums being sent to the Canada Revenue Agency and Service Canada, plus another $30,000 to BDO.
If approved, that outcome would mean all other companies owed money by Taiga – like Air Tindi, which registered a claim worth more than $250,000 – will receive nothing.
Three other northern firms were owed more than $5,000 at the time proceedings began. The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission was owed nearly $37,000.
Customers had given Taiga more than $1 million in deposits for future trips. Some may have been able to get that money back through their credit card companies, but others are now set to receive nothing.
News that there’ll be no money to satisfy any these debts likely won’t come as a surprise to many of those involved.
BDO had maintained since late last year that even once the lodge sold, there was unlikely to be enough money to pay anyone beyond Prosper NWT, which had priority under the terms of its past agreements with Taiga.
