Last week, Wayne Easter shared this letter in the local newpaper. Please check comments for Coalition member, Boyd Allen’s response.
“Having spent decades in the political arena, I feel compelled to speak plainly about the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission’s ongoing investigation into the land holdings of the Great Wisdom Buddhist Institute and the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society.
Let me be clear: IRAC is not equipped – by mandate or by muscle – to uncover the full truth.
IRAC’S focus is narrow: determine whether landholdings comply with acreage limits, corporate transparency rules and land use purposes. It is not, and never has been, an investigative body capable of tracing complex shell corporations, offshore funding or organized influence networks. It lacks subpoena power. It cannot compel witnesses to testify. It cannot examine bank records. And, most importantly, it cannot investigate with the independence, depth or legal teeth required when national security, foreign interference and potential elite capture are at issue.
The IRAC process may have sincere intentions, but legal constraints mean it will ultimately fall short. I have reviewed the scope of work that IRAC outlined for its legal counsel. Although perhaps capable and experienced, the individual is not operating under judicial authority, and will not have access to confidential RCMP intelligence, FINTRAC transaction flags or CSIS reports. Checking names on the land registry does not indicate who controls the assets or where the purchasing power originates.
This is why I, and others, have requested a federal public inquiry – a judicial inquiry with full subpoena powers, access to intelligence briefings, and the ability to investigate cross-border transactions. Only then can we follow the money, trace the influence and determine whether laws have been broken or institutions compromised.
Islanders deserve more than regulatory box-checking. A process lacking the authority to investigate all aspects of these land transactions would be used as cover by those who may have something to hide. Such a process does not meet Islanders’ needs.”
Wayne Easter, former Liberal solicitor general for Canada and Malpeque MP North Wiltshire, P.E.I.
