The Coalition for the Protection of P.E.I. Lands appreciates the recent report the Agricultural minister, Bloyce Thompson, finally received of IRAC’s investigation into the Brendel land sale. Thompson said the investigation revealed there are “reasonable and probable grounds” that the sale of 2,200 acres contravened the land limits set out in the Lands Protection Act (LPA). The minister went on to say “the involved parties have received correspondence from government asking them to divest land and become compliant with the LPA within 120 days.”
However, we are disappointed that the report has not been made public. According to a Guardian news article on Oct. 28, “an email statement from IRAC stated that the responsibility for releasing the report fell to the agricultural minister.” IRAC went on to state, “The report was prepared at the request of the minister and has been delivered to him. The minister determines if and when he releases it.” In keeping with the government’s commitment to transparency, our coalition strongly recommends that the report be released to the public immediately.
The release of the report could serve to educate Islanders on the extent to which corporate interests will go to circumvent the intent of the land limits as defined in the Lands Protection Act. These limits of 1,000 acres for individuals and 3,000 acres for corporations of arable land were reinforced after much study and consultation in the 2013 Carver Commission report. Preliminary input to the next planned consultation on land protection suggests that Islanders are strongly supportive of maintaining these limits in accordance with the act.
Further, we would like responses to the following questions which the government and IRAC should answer:
1) Why is the minister reluctant to let Islanders know the details of this investigation?
2) How did this sale take place without the approval of the executive council?
3) If there is “no loophole “ in the act as the minister states, how did this sale take place, as the report specifically states there has been a contravention of the act?
4) From how much land were the parties involved in this sale asked to be divested?
In closing, we appreciate the minister’s actions in pursuing an investigation of this unauthorized land transfer. We trust the land in question will be fully divested by the offending parties or if not that the minister will insure that serious consequences ensue. We also look forward to the early release of the investigation report.
Phil Callaghan, who lives in Charlottetown, has written this article for the Coalition for the Protection of P.E.I. Lands.