This hard-hitting letter was written four years ago by Marie. Has anything changed? Only that the veil of secrecy has increased and Islanders are more and more in the dark about how IRAC is spending our tax dollars. Time for change!
MARIE BURGE GUEST OPINION – The Guardian, August 19, 2021
IRAC: its scope and limitations
The Coalition for the Protection of P.E.I. Lands has been an IRAC watcher since our founding in 2018. We were not far into our study of the Lands Protection Act when it was clear that we needed to understand better the nature of this organization and the role it plays in protecting P.E.I. lands.
We suspect that not many Islanders know much about IRAC beyond the well publicized appeals around landlords’ raising rents and related practices. Everyone knows of the outcries of residents affected by unwanted housing developments or the roundabout incursions in their community. Most people know that IRAC is involved in overseeing utility rates. And IRAC lets us know how much we will be paying at a given time for heating our homes and filling up our gas tanks. However when it comes to land regulations and appeals in relation to land transactions, there seems to be a cloud of secrecy.
Back to the beginning and the “spirit and intent” of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission: IRAC was “established in 1991 following the amalgamation of the former Public Utilities Commission, the Land Use Commission and the Office of the Director of Residential Rental Property. It is governed under the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission Act.” The commission was created as an independent quasi-judicial tribunal (a non-legal parallel to the court system) and has the power to subpoena witnesses. It is responsible for ensuring the observance of a number of provincial acts, hears appeals of groups and individuals who claim they are wronged by the non- adherence of one or other provincial statute and can prescribe a remedy.
In the past years Islanders have come to expect the transparency promised by succeeding governments. There is a growing discomfort with how little information is available to everyday residents about land transfers and land holdings. There is no transparency or accountability to Islanders. To be fair: IRAC, being an independent body, is not part of government. And there is no provision in the governing act to provide transparency for the good of the public. IRAC is designed to be at “armslength from government”, although it is governed by an act of the legislature. And IRAC simply reports its activities, revenues and expenditures once a year to the minister responsible, which is the minster of Education and Life Long Learning. This ministry seems like a strange fit when it comes to IRAC’s major role of ensuring adherence to the Lands Protection Act.
It is galling when this so-called “independent” commission begins an investigation of land transactions and then prematurely terminates it for no “apparent” reason. Then they play the “privacy” card. This was evident recently when IRAC refused to release the names of the corporation which are now declared to be at the 75 per cent of allowable acreage. There are 17 in that list. Only one corporation requested a review of their holdings. According to the Privacy Commissioner, IRAC should release the identity of the 16 who did not request a review.
There is a growing sense that IRAC is no longer an effective institution for what is now an extremely complex intertwining of powerful forces intervening and obstructing lands protection and land transactions.
The Coalition for the Protection of P.E.I. Lands believes that it is time to relieve IRAC of its responsibilities relating the Lands Protection Act. What is needed is a new commission or agency, part of government, but free from political or corporate interference and with full authority to carry out proactive investigations and prescribe remedies.
It should be attached to the appropriate government department with clear lines of accountability to the government and to the public.
Marie Burge lives in Charlottetown and is employed by Cooper Institute, which is one of the founding organizations of the Coalition for the Protection of P.E.I. Lands. She wrote this article with input from the coalition.