Green Party calls for investigation into Point Deroche land sale
Mortgage documents reveal a potential breach of Lands Protection Act, MLA argues
The Green Party is calling on the P.E.I. government to order an investigation into a land transaction involving a controversial summer home under construction on the province's north shore.
The site in Point Deroche has already sparked public outrage because the massive stone armouring installed to protect the property blocks access to the public beach.
Now the property is being drawn into another hot-button issue of contention among Islanders: the Lands Protection Act, which restricts how much land people can own and in particular restricts land purchases by out-of-province residents.
Initially the property was being developed by a family from Ontario, with the land held under a corporation, 251 Kelpie Lane Inc.
In December those owners sold their property to P.E.I. developer Tim Banks.
Banks also bought an adjoining 47-acre property, identified as PID 374496 in provincial records.
In the legislature Thursday, Green MLA Matthew MacFarlane said the former owner of the second parcel of land "is an Islander but also the main contractor for the Ontario people building the monstrosity," by which MacFarlane meant the massive summer home at Kelpie Lane.
MacFarlane tabled documents including a collateral mortgage which he explained showed 251 Kelpie Lane Inc. claiming both parcels of land as security as the mortgagee, in the event Banks, the mortgager, fails to pay the agreed price of $2.3 million.
"The Ontario people building the monstrosity took a mortgage over both parcels, giving them a beneficial interest in both parcels, even though they never received cabinet approval to acquire any interest in the 47-acre parcel," MacFarlane explained to the house.
MacFarlane said that's in contravention of the Lands Protection Act, which limits non-resident land ownership to a maximum of five acres or 165 feet of shore frontage unless approved by cabinet.
"Islanders need to have confidence that their government is acting and enforcing the laws of our province… Islanders need to have confidence that the government is working in their interests, and not those from away with deep pockets," MacFarlane said, asking the premier to launch a review through the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.
"I don't direct IRAC," Premier Dennis King responded.
He said the accusations MacFarlane had brought forward "would be pretty troubling," but that he didn't know if they were "true or untrue."
CBC reached out to all parties involved for comment. No one from 251 Kelpie Lane Inc., nor the previous owner of PID 374496, responded.
Banks responded via email to say that "any approvals required with respect to the mortgage would be the mortgagee's responsibility. We applied for and received our approval to acquire the property as owner."
Approval for Banks' company, Pan American Properties, to acquire both parcels of land was granted by cabinet on Dec. 19, 2023.
In the legislature Thursday, premier Dennis King said in approving those transfers cabinet was following the advice put forward by the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.
While the premier can't order IRAC to investigate a land transaction, a member of his cabinet designated under the Lands Protection Act can.
In 2019 former Minister of Land Bloyce Thompson did just that, and vowed to close loopholes in the Lands Protection Act after a company with ties to the Irving family purchased 890 hectares of farmland without cabinet approval.
The results of that investigation have never been made public. CBC News requested the report in a Freedom of Information request in Oct. 2020, and is awaiting a review of the file from the province's privacy commissioner.