Keith Russell sued by bank over $40K loan to company

Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Keith Russell is being sued by the Bank of Nova Scotia in conjunction with an unpaid loan he guaranteed for a company of which he is an owner and director.

According to documents filed at Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John’s, ULU Industrial Services Ltd. owes the bank $40,000 in principal and $13,000 in unpaid interest on a credit line.

In its statement of claim, the Bank of Nova Scotia says Russell and another company director, Dean Hughes, issued written personal guarantees in relation to the loan.

Those guarantees, which the bank says date back to 2009, cover the maximum principal amount of $40,000, plus interest and costs from the date of demand for payment.

The bank is suing ULU Industrial Services for $53,000, and Russell and Hughes for their $40,000 guarantees, plus costs.

The statement of claim is dated Jan. 19. No statement of defence had been filed as of Thursday afternoon.

The bank’s allegations have not been proven, and the matter remains before the courts.

According his public disclosure filings with the commissioner for legislative standards, Russell is majority owner of ULU.

He could not immediately be reached for comment by CBC News on Thursday afternoon.

Russell was first elected to the House of Assembly in 2011, and appointed to cabinet by Premier Paul Davis when he took office last fall.

Controversial past

Russell has hit the headlines in a swirl of controversy before.

In 2011, he was removed as a minister with the Nunatsiavut government for not doing his job.

The next year, he found himself embroiled in a series of public and political conflagrations.

In September 2012, Russell described the spiritual beliefs of people opposed to Muskrat Falls as "mumbo jumbo." He later apologized for the remarks.

In November 2012, Russell was tagged with a six-game suspension for verbally abusing referees while coaching at a minor hockey game in Labrador City. Russell was escorted from the arena.

Soon after, a protester outside the signing of the Muskrat Falls loan guarantee term sheet claimed that Russell swore at her several times during a confrontation.

And in December 2012, Russell called then-Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair MHA Yvonne Jones "nothing more than a washed-up actress, honey," during debate in the House of Assembly.

"The last time at the Relay for Life up in Goose Bay, who was the one that would seek me out and give me the big sloppy wet kiss right in front of everybody, Mr. Speaker? That was the honourable member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair," Russell said in the legislature at the time.

Then-Speaker Ross Wiseman ruled that the comments were offensive to women and to the House.