The child-size ATVs purchased for a training program were unveiled at a news conference last week. (CBC)Premier Rodney MacDonald is demanding the return of $230,000 his government spent on 66 ATVs for children as young as six, saying the matter was handled "poorly."

MacDonald delivered the news Thursday as critics continue to attack his government's decision to spend money on the ATV training program for children up to 15 years old.

He said he wanted to recoup the money, though he didn't have details on how to do it.

"But it will be done," he told reporters in Halifax.

MacDonald lashed out at his cabinet colleague in charge of the file, saying the issue was handled "very poorly" by the Department of Health Promotion and Protection.

He stripped Barry Barnet of the ATV file and handed it to Natural Resources Minister David Morse.

Morse suggested that ATV riders or their association could be asked to foot the bill.

Barnet was not at the news conference last Wednesday when his department, along with representatives from the ATV association and dealers, showed off the new, child-size machines.

MacDonald said he didn't know about the $230,000 purchase until he heard about it in the news.

"I first heard when the question was raised last week," he said.

Health Promotion Minister Barry Barnet says he made a bad decision. (Jean Laroche/CBC)The premier defended the purchase when reporters asked about it the day after the news conference.

"If it's an investment in safety for our young people," he said at the time, "the government's willing to make it."

Barnet is accepting full responsibility for a "bad decision," and backs the premier's claim that he didn't know the details of the purchase.

"This isn't about Barry Barnet falling on the sword for somebody else," Barnet said.

"I made a mistake and I'm sorry for it, and I apologize to those who have been negatively impacted and to those who may have lost confidence in me."

Barnet said he didn't offer to resign and the premier never asked him to.

'Who's in charge?'

Opposition MLAs aren't satisfied with MacDonald's claim that he was blindsided.

"You're telling me the premier wasn't in the loop?" said New Democrat Bill Estabrooks. "Who's in charge? The premier of the province is in charge."

"I'd be very, very surprised that the premier did not know," said Liberal MLA Leo Glavine.

Both the Liberals and NDP said the province will have a tough time getting its money back.

The provincial ATV association, which is running the training programs for children, said it won't have an official response to the latest news until Wednesday.

Wayne Rock, president of the group, said he's in meetings to try to get details.

It's unclear what will happen to a $100,000 contribution from manufacturers and dealers. There's also no word on whether the government will pay $30,000 a year to support the ATV training as promised.

Critics hammer government

Opponents cite a number of reasons for their disapproval of the minority Tory government's ATV plan, from the decision to spend tax dollars on the machines to issues of safety.

The children's hospital for the Maritimes, the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, reiterated its position that ATVs are too dangerous for children under 16.

The Nova Scotia government passed a law two years ago making ATV training mandatory for children and youth.

The law bans children under 14 from riding ATVs anywhere except on a closed course. Parents have to supervise the riders and there must be someone with advanced first-aid training standing by.