Audit says pork plant may have accessed more PNP money than allowed
Editor – while the Liberal government insists it was hands off when grant PNP units to MLA’s, the facts contradict that thin alibi.
The Guardian reports “One such government agency, Island Investment Development Inc., granted the plant’s owners more than $350,000 through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).”
This program always was tightly controlled by the government, both Liberal and Conservative.
TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian
P.E.I.’s failed pork-processing plant accessed money from the Provincial Nominee Program and may have accessed more than the rules allowed, according to findings in the P.E.I. auditor general’s investigation of the plant’s finances.
The audit, released late last week, details the millions in loans advanced by the province to the Natural Organic Food Group (NOFG) plant between 2006 and late 2007 as the owners tried to get into new markets for organic pork.
One such government agency, Island Investment Development Inc., granted the plant’s owners more than $350,000 through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
Through this program, a P.E.I. company that met certain criteria would be matched with an immigrant who invested money into the company in exchange for nomination by the province for Canadian citizenship.
A total of $200,000 was paid by the immigrant investors for these expedited Canadian visas. Of this amount, the local companies would receive $55,000 from each immigrant, minus legal and settlement fees.
The NOFG shareholders received eight immigrant investments, referred to as ‘units.’
However, the rules of this federal-provincial program state that no one company is allowed to receive more than four units.
Scott Dingwell, one of the P.E.I. owners of NOFG, said he was not aware of any problems with his company having received more investment units than the rules allow.
“This was all done quite appropriately through our accountants and advisers and I think there was a number of applications made so that we were within the program guidelines,” Dingwell said.
When asked where this money was applied in the company, Dingwell said he didn’t have his files on hand, but that it would have been used “for the purposes identified.”
Provincial Auditor General Colin Younker states in his NOFG audit the PNP units were used to pay off a mortgage taken out on the plant by the company shareholders.
Innovation Minister Richard Brown, whose department oversees the Provincial Nominee Program, said the P.E.I. NOFG shareholders had a separate business from the Quebec shareholders, which is how they were able to access twice the amount of units.
“There was P.E.I. (Pork) Plus, which was one company, and NOFG P.E.I., which was another company,” Brown said.
“They had common shareholders but they weren’t all common to each other, and one company was given four units and the other company was given four units.”
However, on the provincial government website, where all the rules for the program are listed, it states the limit of four investment units for a company includes “wholly owned subsidiaries or affiliated companies where 50 per cent or more of the common shares are held by a single shareholder or by a beneficiary company of immigrant partner investments.”
When asked if this means the NOFG shareholders were contravening the department’s regulations, Brown deferred to the provincial auditor general’s current investigation into the PNP.
“I’ll defer this to the auditor general, he’s doing an analysis of the whole program now and hopefully he will be bringing this item up in his report and say what is the issue here.”
The auditor general decided to launch an investigation into the program several weeks ago after a number of administration discrepancies began coming to light in the media.
The RCMP and the provincial public accounts committee are also conducting their own investigations into the program.
11/11/08
