Official Opposition Leader Liz Hanson continued the NDP’s criticism of the secretive Mountain View Golf Club deal Wednesday, demanding answers on how precisely the previous Yukon Party government delivered its $750,000 bailout to the non-profit society in February 2011.

“The cheques had to be cut and signed by someone,” the NDP told the legislature.

“The monies had to be pulled from somewhere and allocated to some account in the government’s books.

“Clearly, this government doesn’t want to tell Yukoners where the money came from.”

The controversial arrangement saw officials quietly hand over three-quarters of a million dollars to Mountain View to discharge its $500,000 debt, provide an additional financial boost and, in return, put a 51-hectare parcel of land back in government hands.

The land was leased by the course in 1997 and set to stay in the non-profit’s hands until at least 2027.

“This is not an issue about golf or NGO funding; this is an issue about government transparency and accountability,” Hanson said.

The payout does not appear in any 2010-11 budget documents.

More than two weeks after the government was first questioned in the legislature, the public has not been told which department cut the cheques, “or who had the authority to sign those cheques,” Hanson noted.

The Community Services department, under former minister Archie Lang, was prodding the City of Whitehorse on a possible bailout as early as June 2010, internal documents show.

Beyond bailing out a non-profit, the government has repeatedly cited the parcel’s “prime location” and its potential as a Whistle Bend subdivision expansion site as the reason behind the covert exchange.

That professed motivation runs counter to correspondence between territorial and municipal officials that reveals the city had no interest in land that a feasibility study showed to be largely unsuitable for development.

“Will this minister tell Yukoners if families who bought land in Whistle Bend picked up the tab for this government’s backroom deal?” Hanson asked Wednesday.

She pointed out lots in Whistle Bend were priced at the cost of development.

That includes the expense of trails and storm-water management, “which is exactly what the minister repeats the land was intended for.”

Community Services Minister Brad Cathers revealed no new information on the deal.

“It’s clear from the file that the minister of the day (Lang) in February 2011 made a decision to help this NGO,” he said.

Cathers offered little beyond what Meadow Lakes Golf and Country Club owner Jeff Luehmann has already released in scores of documents, which he wrested from the government via access-to-information requests over the course of a year.

Cathers also noted the Yukon’s conflict of interest commissioner has cleared Premier Darrell Pasloski of any inappropriate action.

Pasloski was on the Mountain View board when the deal went through, two months before he officially unveiled his candidacy for Yukon Party leader in April 2011.

Nonetheless, the commissioner advised Pasloski not to comment due to “perceived conflict” around a bailout that all board members were aware of.

“The fact is not a single member of this Yukon Party government will stand up and take responsibility for this deal,” Hanson said. “It’s an embarrassment.

“They can’t take credit for actions of past Yukon Party governments without taking responsibility for past mistakes as well.”

Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Scott Kent took a new tack. He suggested the previous NDP government was indirectly to blame for the hefty bailout because of the generous lease it had signed with Mountain View in 1997.

The 30-year lease — with a 30-year renewal option in 2027 — “gave the golf course exclusive control of the area, as though it were private property,” Kent said in the house.

“Furthermore, this NDP lease that was entered into did not include conditions that would enable the government to break the lease without compensation.

“It was necessary for the government to purchase it at an appraised value, which is exactly what was done in 2011,” Kent said.

The lease cost the golf course $125 annually — which would add up to $5,875 between 2011 and 2057, plus “compensation.”

Mount Sima, another non-profit run on land leased from the government — in this case the city — also has a 30-year lease.

“The government came to the aid of an NGO that benefits Yukoners — I’m sure there are even a few NDP golfers out there — and freed up land to facilitate the development of Whistle Bend, something that was important to Yukoners who were looking for lots in the day — and we still have a golf course that is an incredibly important piece of recreational infrastructure for this community,” Kent added.

Before the legislative day was done, Speaker David Laxton chastised both parties for churlish behaviour: “Heckling on both sides is getting to the point where it is very difficult for me to hear what everybody is saying. So bring it down a notch.”