Many thanks going out to Laverne MacInnis on this “truth to power” letter today! Thanks for taking the time to stand up for our land, Laverne!
Islanders deserve action on land matters
(Charlottetown)13 Nov 2025Laverne V. Macinnis, Murray Harbour, P.E.I.
I commend Green Opposition Leader Matt Macfarlane for his persistence in obtaining, through subpoena, the admission by IRAC that no report existed on the alleged land investigation commissioned by the Liberals and supposedly concluded in 2018. A report that Islanders have been led to believe existed for seven years and was simply unavailable for unknown reasons. The result of a subpoena Macfarlane was successful in obtaining even when opposed by some sitting PC MLAS.
Besides former MLA Steven Myers’s one attempt to obtain said report, not one P.E.I. politician has put their proverbial “foot” down with IRAC. Inquiring minds want to know why?
As a resident of Kings County, I have been very concerned about land transactions and the possible violations of the land laws for years. Macfarlane is the first politician who has taken the issue seriously. I believe what people do, not what they say. And he is not even an MLA from Kings County. He came out here and talked to people. He has done his research. He has investigated with an open mind and endeavoured to move forward with resolutions that afford Islanders answers. And he has done so with integrity and commitment as no other politician on P.E.I. has even considered.
As this revelation has unfolded, I am keenly aware that not one politician – not the Liberals, nor the Conservatives, not former premiers Wade Maclauchlan, Dennis King, nor current Premier Rob Lantz, not one person sitting on the board of IRAC – either past or present, has stepped forward to assume any responsibility or offer an apology to Islanders for this dereliction of duty and/or oversight.
Further, I have heard the premier state: “they (meaning Islanders) deserve answers.” Why is he not saying, “we deserve answers”? Is there something he already knows? What Lantz has done is knuckled under to the people and finally requested a federal financial investigation – a thoroughly inadequate response.
Such an investigation doesn’t have the “teeth” necessary to really uncover what’s happening. It will take several years to accomplish, will be done in secrecy and doesn’t have the power to publish all its results. What is truly needed is a public inquiry. Such an inquiry would have full subpoena powers and would publish all its findings.
Not only that, but Lantz is also still relying on IRAC to investigate land transactions! The same IRAC that has misled Islanders for seven years on a non-existent report. The same IRAC that was willing to meet with Macfarlane behind closed doors but only if he committed to secrecy (he refused). The same IRAC that has no credibility or standing with any intelligent Islander at this point. The same IRAC that only admitted under subpoena that there was no report.
In my opinion, any provincial government that would rely on IRAC to even investigate the price of Kool-aid at this point is not only not transparent, but also like the leopard that can’t change its spots.
