If the statute of limitations applies to government loans, then one cabinet minister may not owe the territory a cent.

Yukon law sets out how much time can pass before court action is taken in certain situations.

The law is the Limitation of Actions Act. The act covers various types of legal actions, including pressing charges for trespassing and defamation.

The law also covers how long it can be before legal action is taken to collect unpaid debts.

For debts, the act states legal actions to recover debts cannot take place after six years from when the cause of action arose.

At the least, the law means any loan that has not been paid for six years cannot have legal action on it.

This could leave Health and Social Services Minister Peter Jenkins without owing the Yukon one red cent.

Jenkins owns Dawson City Hotels, which owes the Yukon government more than $270,000 for two delinquent loans. One of the loans was handed out in 1988 and the other in 1990.

According to documents issued in 2000, Jenkins' company had not made any payments on one of the loans since Aug. 1, 1991. On the other loan, the last payment until that point was made on Sept. 1, 1996.

According to the Department of Finance this morning, Jenkins' company has not made any more payments since then.

That means it has been almost eight years since Jenkins' company has paid on the one loan and more than 12 years on the other debt.

That's almost eight years and according to the law, the government cannot take a court action to force the company to pay the outstanding debts.

Bill Curtis of the Department of Finance admitted the statute of limitation 'is an issue.'

However, the department does not believe the law affects these debts.

'It is our opinion that we're not held to the legislation, that the Yukon government is exempt from that,' Curtis said in an interview this morning.

He said one of the deadbeat debtors who is delinquent in repaying a government loan believes the law does apply. Curtis said that debtor, whom he could not name, believes the statute has come and gone, and doesn't plan on repaying the loan.

'Our Justice department holds that we're not subject to that (law),' said Curtis, refuting the debtor's argument.

The official added that when a collection agency purchases all of the unpaid debts later this year, that right to collect after the six-year limit will be passed on to the private company.

The other minister who owes the government is Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Archie Lang.

Lang owns two companies, Ballard Management and Watson Lake Hotel, which are in debt by more than $115,000 to the government for three loans handed out in 1985 and 1987.

Ballard and Watson Lake Hotel have each made payments over the last few months on one loan each. The statute of limitations would not apply to either of those loans since a payment has been made within the last six years.

However, Ballard has a second loan for $69,000 it has not paid down on since March of 1995, which also takes it beyond the six-year limit.

But that doesn't matter to the government.