Unauthorized Work at Summerside Wetland Could Cost Extra $750,000
by Josh Lewis
The developer of a Summerside golf course could be forced to pay around $750,000 for unauthorized wetland work if the province applies its full compensation formula.
Former Environment Minister Gilles Arsenault gave verbal approval last fall for developer Shizhong Liu to disturb 6 to 7 acres not part of the 27.1 which were originally approved, without further compensation. Arsenault gave final approval the same day the developer paid $100,000 to a community group in Arsenault’s district to which he had political ties.
But when department staff visited in February, they found 12 to 13 extra acres were being worked on, according to Charlottetown lawyer Murray Murphy’s report prepared for government. A stop work order was issued.
Based on the $60,000 per acre developers are generally required to pay for disturbing wetlands, Liu would owe between $720,000 and $780,000 for that part of the work.
Land and Environment spokesperson Morgan Martin said about seven unauthorized acres had actually been disturbed at the time of the site visit, which would cost the developer a maximum of $420,000 if no approval for the remaining six to seven is sought.
Current minister Darlene Compton has said the process will start over and more compensation may be required.
The formula increased from $18,300 per acre in January 2024, according to emails between department staff tabled in the legislature last week.
“The formula for wetland compensation values an acre of wetland at $20,000, which is the baseline value for wetland creation, reconstruction, or replacement. Additionally, there is a 3:1 compensation ratio requirement applied to compensation which reflects the inherent challenges,” Martin said.
The extra work comes after the province allowed Liu to pay just a fraction of the maximum compensation on the original 27 acres.
In a June 2024 email, director of environmental regulatory services Greg Wilson said the department would use the old formula for the project, amounting to $495,930.
However, then-minister Steven Myers and deputy Norbert Carpenter had met with Liu’s representatives that April in Toronto and agreed to charge just $15,000 per acre, one quarter of the maximum. This is how the final payment of $406,500 was determined. Carpenter’s handwritten notes indicate Myers floated the lesser payment.
Martin said in cases where compensation is “less than what it should be,” it is at the minister’s discretion.
At the full rate, the original 27.1 acres could have cost Liu $1.626 million, significantly more than the maximum of $1 million Murphy mentioned in his report.
When removing the unused four or five acres the developer wanted to trade for the additional 12 or 13, the department could charge a maximum payment of $2,106,000.
In an April 2024 email, Wilson wrote part of the compensation strategy is to deter wetland impacts and force developers to find other alternatives.
“A low fee just encourages a mindset of ‘payment is just the cost of doing business’ and more wetlands get destroyed than protected,” he wrote to Carpenter and Myers.
Also that month, golf consultant Graham Cooke had asked Wilson if the owner were to buy land with untouched wetlands and give it to the province, if it could count as part of the compensation. Wilson threw cold water on that.
However, the Graphic reported last May the PEI Energy Corporation had been allowed to do this, buying land in Lakeville which was given Natural Areas Protection Act designation to offset the loss of forested habitat at the Eastern Kings wind farm expansion.
Summerside project dwarfs all other wetland work since 2024
Thirteen wetland compensation payments have been made since the beginning of 2024, according to information obtained from the province. The 27.1 acres in Summerside are exponentially more than the rest of them combined, which add up to a little over five acres.
Liu also paid the cheapest rate of them all, with nine of the agreements being for $60,000 an acre.
The second-biggest wetland disturbance was at the Eastern Kings expansion in September 2024, with the Energy Corp paying $151,200 for altering 2.52 acres.
The province was also responsible for the third-biggest project, paying the maximum in March 2025 for infilling one acre of unmapped wetland in Tyne Valley. Department of Transportation also infilled 0.074 of an acre in North Rustico last year to extend a boardwalk.
Other instances of the full rate being charged were 0.69 acres for road construction by Landmark Construction off Malpeque Road in May 2025, two cases of Mermaid Development Group landscaping 0.3 and 0.1 of an acre respectively in a buffer zone at a Pooles Corner housing project, development of 0.25 of an acre by Pan American Properties at Blackbush Beach Resort in Grand Tracadie, road construction in Warren Grove taking up 0.043 of an acre and culvert construction off West River Road in Long Creek which altered 0.011 of an acre.
Three other payments involved less than the maximum being charged. Roadway construction for driveway access in Burnt Point in the fall of 2024 that took up 0.172 of an acre came at a rate of $58,139.53 per.
Road construction in Brackley in December 2024 was charged at $29,166.67 an acre for 0.024 acres of work. And a farm crossing built by Rollo Bay Holdings off Souris Line Road in March 2024 was charged at $18,334.78. It was by far the smallest amount of work, covering 0.0023 of an acre, and the only payment anywhere near as cheap as the Summerside project.
