Prince Edward Island Progressive Conservative leader Rob Lantz, surrounded by candidates, announces the start of their election campaign in Cornwall, P.E.I., on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. The provincial election will be held on May 4, 2015.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press
Prince Edward Island's Progressive Conservative Leader Rob Lantz has vowed to overhaul a culture of secrecy in government if islanders hand his party a victory next month.
In unveiling the Tory platform Tuesday, Mr. Lantz reiterated his pledge to create a Royal Commission on Accountability in Government. The commission's mandate would be to investigate an online gambling scandal revealed this year in The Globe and Mail, as well as the troubled immigrant investor program.
Ever since The Globe published an investigation into PEI's doomed online gambling venture in February, the issue has dominated discussion on the island, Mr. Lantz said in an interview. The controversy came up again and again when he was door-knocking with a candidate in the riding of Vernon River-Stratford on Tuesday afternoon, he added.
"There are so many unanswered questions. There are allegations of conflict of interest and frankly a perception by the public that government has been systematically corrupted," he said. "There's been a series of scandals that have rocked the whole province. This government has lost the trust and confidence of the public."
The Globe revealed that government officials had privately invested in a U.S.-based tech company that was at the centre of a covert scheme to transform PEI into an international eGaming hub. The province's conflict-of-interest commissioner as well as a Charlottetown lawyer who helped negotiate a phase of the deal were among those who invested in Capital Markets Technologies. Additionally, The Globe learned that former Liberal premier Robert Ghiz's then chief-of-staff, Chris LeClair, was brokering introductions between Capital Markets Technologies and government around the same time his wife was investing in a company CMT planned to buy in a reverse takeover.
After the story was published, conflict-of-interest commissioner Neil Robinson resigned and Mr. Ghiz's recently named successor, Premier Wade MacLauchlan, pledged to strengthen PEI's conflict-of-interest rules, which currently don't cover political staff. The Liberal Premier also sent the case to the Auditor-General for review, but so far, has dismissed opposition calls for a judicial inquiry.
On Tuesday, a Liberal spokesman said the Premier was unavailable for comment on the first full day of campaigning, but in an e-mail, defended Mr. MacLauchlan's record.
"Since being sworn in to office a few weeks ago, Premier MacLauchlan has announced a number of initiatives to increase transparency and accountability and to build public confidence in government. These measures include enhanced conflict of interest requirements for senior officials, more transparent public reporting of expenses, the creation of an ethics and integrity commissioner, and sending the egaming file to the Auditor General."
On Wednesday, CMT is expected to serve the Liberal government with a $25-million lawsuit over the failed venture. Capital Markets' original plan for the island was to launch a global transaction platform – essentially a bank for banks – but after learning about the technology, government officials added the online gambling component. Speaking to The Globe earlier this year, Capital Markets executive Paul Maines said his reputation was left in ruins after the deal fell apart and the players involved scrambled to distance themselves from the controversy.
Mr. Maines referred questions to his lawyer, John Findlay, on Tuesday.
"A good business opportunity to establish a financial transaction platform on Prince Edward Island was thwarted by members of the previous government," Mr. Findlay said. "The nature of the claim will be damages for breach of contract and intentional interference with economic relations. … Part of the purpose [of this lawsuit] is to repair the reputational damages that have been done to [Mr. Maines] and his business."
Islanders will head to the polls on May 4.