Please share the following Media Release – March 27th
The Coalition for the Protection of PEI Lands Calls for Public Land Inquiry
The Coalition for the Protection of PEI Lands held a forum in Kings County on March 18, 2023. The meeting ended with a motion from the audience that received overwhelming support calling for the Coalition to ask for an IRAC investigation into land transactions in Kings County. Residents felt that the land-grabbing situation there has reached a crisis point. The Coalition was inspired by this motion to take this a step further and request that the Lieutenant Governor in Council immediately call for an island-wide public inquiry under the Public Inquiry Act for the following reasons:
• Cabinet does not have to abide by the findings and recommendations of IRAC
• IRAC does not have to share findings with the public
• A public inquiry by nature has far more reaching powers of subpoena and the ability to call witnesses, documents and financial accounts
The Coalition for the Protection of PEI Lands deems the need to have a comprehensive, Island-wide public inquiry to determine how the Lands Protection Act has been contravened by Island, national, and transnational corporations, and their beneficial owners and affiliates from 2013-2023. The Coalition is also calling for a moratorium on all land transactions over the course of this inquiry.
The Coalition for the Protection of PEI Lands and its membership has been raising the alarm for years about what is happening in the province regarding our land. Numerous governments appear to have thwarted the spirit and intent of the Act.
So it is imperative in the week leading up to the election that Islanders know the following from our political leaders: If you become Premier, will you call for this public inquiry or not and if not, why not?