It was a tense question period in P.E.I.’s legislature Tuesday, as Premier Rob Lantz faced sharp questions after Gilles Arsenault’s ouster this weekend over the former minister’s handling of a Summerside golf course permit.
Lantz has asked the province’s conflict of interest commissioner to investigate and says the RCMP was alerted, after a third-party legal review suggested a $100,000-donation from a private developer to a community group in Arsenault’s district was linked to approval for work in a wetland area. The group is led by Arsenault’s former campaign manager.
Arsenault maintains the donation idea came from the developer and that he had already indicated the work could proceed before any donation was discussed.
“Islanders were kept in the dark for more than two weeks,” Opposition leader Hal Perry said during question period. “For a government that talks so much about transparency and accountability, that is a very long time to say nothing.”
Asked about the delay, Lantz said his government took time to gather the facts. He said he was informed on March 13 by his chief of staff.
“Making decisions in the absence of facts is not acting, it’s reacting,” Lantz said. “We took a methodical approach to gather all the information about the incident to know exactly what we were dealing with.”
But that approach also drew criticism from both the Liberals and Greens. Perry questioned why the premier’s office turned to Murray Murphy of Stewart McKelvey for the legal review, noting Murphy’s past fundraising ties to the Progressive Conservatives.
“This is a managing partner of the largest law firm in Atlantic Canada,” Lantz said. “It’s an unvarnished, very factual description of the case. Nothing is sugar-coated.”
Green Leader Matt MacFarlane said the incident reflected a broader pattern of “political interference” in operational decisions by the PC government, arguing the decision on the permit should have been left to experts in the environmental department.
“I think it’s clear that all of us expect better. This was certainly poor judgment, and we’ll all learn lessons from this,” Lantz said. “We have amongst the best public servants in this country. There are established rules in place to catch incidents just like this. The policies and oversight caught up eventually.”
Arsenault refused to answer questions Tuesday, only referring to a social media post he made Monday defending his actions. In it, he wrote: “I realize now that the optics of the situation matter. If the developer thought the donation was contingent on the permit, that was never the intention. Clearly there was a miscommunication and that’s very unfortunate.”
Lantz said he has no evidence the $100,000 has been returned but has been told the process by electronic transfer is underway. He also committed to making public all emails, text messages and briefing notes related to the project and payment.
Land and Environment Minister Darlene Compton said a stop-work order was put in place in February, and that the department will continue to work with the developer, who has been “very co-operative.”
As for Summerside MLA Barb Ramsay, who is also the minister of social development and seniors, she said she had no involvement or discussions related to the project, but was excited about it.
“I would love to see a golf course come into Summerside,” Ramsay said.
