P.E.I.’s Leader of the Opposition is calling for a review of the province’s Provincial Nominee Program following a recent investigation into the alleged use of four homes as “addresses of convenience” for fraudulent permanent residency applications by a Charlottetown couple.
Progressive Conservative Leader James Aylward said the investigation is raising questions about the provincial government’s handling of the Island’s Provincial Nominee Program. The investigation came to light after an application for a search warrant was requested by CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency).
Lana Hicks, a peace officer working with the CBSA, submitted the application for the search warrant in June after a four-month investigation. The document alleges that, since 2014, 462 applicants for permanent residency in Canada listed three addresses linked to a Charlottetown couple. The document further alleges that the couple used the addresses to “facilitate immigration fraud.”
Related: New federal probe opens on P.E.I. immigrants alleged to have used fake addresses
Hicks also alleged a fourth address was used as part of a home stay service for visitors from China and Vietnam. Of the 462 applicants, 439 obtained permanent residency, while the other 23 were unconfirmed.
The CBSA investigation involved several “garbage grabs” from the four addresses, tips from border services officers, “drive-bys” of the residences and checks of applicants linked to the addresses on federal databases.
No charges have been officially laid and the allegations have yet to be proven in court.
Two residents of Charlottetown, Ping Zhong and Yi Zhong, were charged with immigration fraud in May in connection with an investigation into over 500 fraudulent applications connected to the Sherwood Motel. The allegations have also yet to be proven in court.
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“We have two federal investigations by CBSA within a three-month period for upwards of potentially a thousand applications that are extremely questionable," Aylward said in an interview.
Aylward said members of the Opposition repeatedly asked questions of members of the MacLauchlan government during the spring sitting of the legislature in relation to the Sherwood Motel investigation.
“The minister and the government repeatedly got up and said, 'that's the old program, we're moving forward, (we’re) not living in the past.' But we've been hearing that since 2008 over and over again," Aylward said.
“This isn’t about if we do immigration but how we do it properly. For 11 years minister after minister has failed to manage our immigration programs properly. We were assured by the latest minister that this was an isolated incident and we now know that isn’t the case.”
The Charlottetown couple at the centre of the latest CBSA investigation is being represented by Halifax-based immigration lawyer Lee Cohen. Cohen has stated that the two plan to plead not guilty.
Over June and July, the P.E.I. Office of Immigration extended 93 business invitations to prospective immigrants.