It's been over three years now since the Alberta Division of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation celebrated its victory in bringing "no more boondoggles" legislation to the province. In 1996, after significant public pressure was brought to bear, the Klein administration passed something called the . In a nutshell, the legislation eliminated the province's ability to dole out large loan guarantees. Ministers can no longer hand out loans or buy shares for government willy-nilly. They must now get specific approval from the legislature with all the public scrutiny that that involves. So far, so good.

But the legislation is not perfect. It's called a act because that's all it does - it simply limits loans - it does not eliminate them altogether.

One of the most obvious examples of this fact is found in something called the Alberta Opportunity Company (AOC). The AOC is, for all intents and purposes, a bank. But it is a bank with a very strange mandate. It hands out loans to small businesses that can't get loans from anyone else without having to worry about whether or not the loans get repaid. And why wouldn't the AOC worry about getting their money back Well, because a good chunk of it isn't theirs in the first place - it's yours and mine.

Most Albertans have never heard of AOC, and even fewer are aware that they are propping up its loans through their tax dollars. But that's exactly what's happening. Through the years of the Klein administration taxpayers have been bilked for over $90 million in grants to the AOC. Currently, the Alberta government is handing over $5.4 million each year.

If Klein and Co. didn't play this subsidy game the AOC would collapse. Taxpayers' money is needed to keep the financially precarious corporation solvent. Historically, annual grants to the AOC have exceeded the company's income. In other words, you and I have been giving the AOC more money than it makes on its own.

Part of the reason for that probably has something to do with the types of loans that are covered. According to the AOC, "priority is given to Alberta-owned businesses which create jobs, introduce improvements in productivity or technology, or have export or tourism potential." That's the official line, but the reality is something else.

The AOC is notorious, for example, for bailing out failing companies by re-financing their debt. Businesses on the verge of bankruptcy have been able to use taxpayer money simply to stave off their creditors. There's no

"job creation" or "productivity improvement" in that.

Given all this then, you might ask, why does the AOC even exist In a word - politics. The same old hackneyed arguments about "creating jobs" and "stimulating growth" are rolled out for the AOC by the Klein Tories, just as they were by the Getty and Lougheed regimes. But the whole thing is really about scratching backs and buying votes. The only difference is that the current administration does it with much less fanfare.

Klein and Co. know what they're doing is wrong (Conservative MLAs and even cabinet ministers say it all the time). They know that forcing businesses to subsidize their competitors is unproductive. They know that government doesn't create jobs. And they know that taxpayers can't afford it.

It's about time the province really got out of the business of being in business. That means abolishing the AOC and giving the some teeth. Taxpayers would be grateful.