SWOOP TO OFFER HAMILTON-JAMAICA SEASONAL FLIGHTS

dreds of people gained permanent residency in Canada by using local addresses where they didn’t live, using the PNP entrepreneur stream.

An investigator alleged 462 applicants used Charlottetown homes belonging to two Chinese immigrants over the past four years as “addresses of convenience.”

The investigator also said she suspected the immigrants didn’t come to the Island and settle, contrary to the requirements of the provincial program.

Those allegations, which have not been proven in court, came two months after two Charlottetown hoteliers were charged with aiding in immigration fraud, with the CBSA alleging 566 immigrants used the addresses of the siblings’ hotel and home.

The siblings have pleaded not guilty to immigration fraud charges, and their lawyer, Lee Cohen, has said there will be discussion with prosecutors about the sworn statements provided by the two accused.

Cohen says he’s suggested “the possibility that the statements were not voluntarily given” in the case.

Chris Palmer, the province’s minister of Economic Development, said in an interview that he wasn’t forced by the federal government to shut down the program, despite the high-profile investigations.

“The feds didn’t intervene and tell us to do this, no,” he said.

Rather, he said it was due to his department’s disappointment with its results in retaining immigrants on the Island.

“We weren’t satisfied with it as our rates of retention weren’t as high as we wanted them to be,” he said.

However, Richard Kurland, an immigration lawyer based in Vancouver, said he sees a relationship between Ottawa’s probes and the shutdown of the program.

“Trials involving the P.E.I. program start soon, so no surprise to see the P.E.I. government shutting down the program before all is revealed,” he wrote in an email.

Kurland has long argued the Island’s system should mirror B.C.’S, which approves a business project first, makes the person spend two years on a work permit to ensure business success, and then requires the applicant to live near the business at least nine months a year. ULTRA LOW COST AIRLINE SWOOP is extending its reach to the Caribbean with seasonal flights to Jamaica from Hamilton. The Westjet Airlines Ltd. unit will fly twice a week to Montego Bay between Dec. 15 and April 24. Swoop last month announced plans to launch transborder service in October to five popular U.S. destinations from Hamilton, Edmonton, and Abbotsford, B.C. The airline is offering an