Sunday, September 28, 2008

Whoa Up there Jimmy Boy...you could be investigating your own people..

Jimmy boy, did you ever hear the old expression, "be careful what you wish for" as the bulk of these PNP's were given out under your own Government's watch to some well connected Tories using Tory lawyers and Tory accountants. The other thing Jim is these PNP's actually work and have been good for PEI Business, creating jobs and investment. Another benefit of the program is the increase of immigrants into our Province which is long overdue. We used the program (approved then by your Tory Government) when we set up Central Truss in Cornwall and without the support of the program I doubt it if we would still be operating as this time. Yes there will always be a few bad apples in the pie but do we need to be grand standing on an issue that the RCMP will deal with in an orderly fashion. Maybe if our legislators would spend more time thinking about going forward as opposed to always pointing the finger at the other party maybe people would start to show some respect for their Politicians.
Tory MLA wants legislature committee to probe provincial immigrant program
TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian
A provincial government immigrant program that aimed to connect foreign money to P.E.I. businesses should be probed by the public accounts committee, says committee chair Jim Bagnall. A complaint filed with the RCMP by a local business owner alleging fraud took place in the Provincial Nominee Program has raised questions about the program. The complaint to the RCMP, coupled with internal rumours of possible discrepancies in the way the government corporation approved businesses for eligibility in this program, makes it an issue public accounts should look at, Bagnall said. “Any time there’s talk of public funds being mishandled, then it should be an issue for public accounts to look into,” he told The Guardian on Friday. “We’re talking $200-$400 million and there’s a lot of questions going around right now as to the way this money was being handled. So my concern is that it may be something that public accounts would want to have a look at.” But that decision will have to made by the committee as a whole. The P.E.I. Provincial Nominee Program was put in place for immigrants to have their Canadian visa applications expedited if they could offer some business or employment benefit to a province. The program has several aspects, one of which involves a partnership agreement struck between immigrants and local businesses. The immigrant agrees to purchase $200,000 worth of shares in local company. Some of that money is paid back to the immigrant after a period of time, a portion of it goes to legal and broker’s fees and some of the money stays within the local company. Last year over 800 immigrants utilized this program. This year, 1,877 immigrants came to P.E.I. through this program, and as a result over $280 million was retained by local businesses until Sept. 2 when the federal government ended the Provincial Nominee Program. Bagnall said he believes the program will likely be discussed during the public accounts committee meeting on Tuesday. “I’m seeing a lot of controversy spinning around in the last few days so it’s probably going to be a topic of discussion at our committee,” Bagnall said. “The committee does have the power to ask the auditor general for an investigation to have it be looked into. So that could happen.” Auditor General Colin Younker said he’s not currently investigating the program but added that could change. “We’re always doing ongoing planning so we may and probably will at some point in time,” he said. He said he would be keeping an eye on comments and concerns raised publicly about this issue. “We always look at what the comments are if programs might have interest to the legislature and to the public,” Younker said. “It’s what goes into consideration as part of our planning.” When asked if any concerns have been raised with him about the nominee program, Younker replied: “I’m not going to answer that question. There is one in front of the RCMP.”

1 comment:

Stephen Pate said...

http://liberalmillionairesclub.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/tim-banks-bites-back/