Looking for a fair chance
NFU calls for stronger land laws to protect Island farmers
The National Farmers Union is calling on the province to show more transparency when land switches hands in P.E.I. NFU members passed a number of resolutions during the District 1, Region 1 annual convention in Milton Community Hall Tuesday aimed at strengthening P.E.I.’s Lands Protection Act.
The resolutions were born out of concerns that foreign buyers are abusing P.E.I.’s laws and taking potential land away from local farmers. A presentation from Baldwin Road residents Chris and Mary Mermuys, which showed some of the land bought by Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society (GEBIS), the Great Wisdom Buddhist Institute (GWBI) and Moonlight International Foundation (MIF Inc.) in eastern P.E.I., seemed to only further those concerns. “Through my understanding, the Lands Protection Act was meant to let farmers and farm corporations have a fair chance,” said Mary. “These are not farm organizations, they’re not farmers… so now this farmland is out of the hands of local, bona fide farmers.” The issue has been building for several years with some feeling that corporations are circumventing the spirit of the Land Protections Act, which currently allows residents to own up to 1,000 acres and corporations to own up to 3,000 acres, while still technically following the law.
The Mermuys compiled their information from GeoLinc and found GEBIS owned about 507 acres, GWBI owned 662 acres, and MIF Inc. owned 664 acres in eastern P.E.I. However, there was also skepticism on about 3,150 acres that were purchased by individuals the couple described as having “Asian sounding” names.
“We’re not discriminating. If someone who’s Asian, or anybody else, wants to come here and farm, no problem. But don’t buy the land and take it out of the hands of local farmers,” said Chris. “Why does a charity need hundreds of acres of land?” Non-residents are allowed to own up to five acres of land in P.E.I., unless they go to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) for approval to purchase more. The Mermuys said the majority of those individual landowner sales did not go through IRAC and shared some skepticism, noting that one address in Heatherdale was cited as a residence for five different individuals during separate land sales.
“One thing we suspect: are they actually living here or are they using addresses of convenience?” said Chris. Douglas Campbell, NFU district director for P.E.I., said the province has to provide some more transparency. “When you look at it on an individual basis, organization by organization, they are under the limits. But this is where clarity needs to come through IRAC, being able to connect the interlocking corporations,” said Campbell. “We want to be very clear, we’re not targeting religion or racial concerns, it’s about foreign interests buying Island land and taking it out of the hands of the farmers and Islanders in general.”
One of the resolutions requested IRAC make its own database more user-friendly and that any recommendations made by IRAC to executive council with regard to land transactions be displayed on its website.
Another resolution requested the Land Protection Act be amended to require applications to IRAC and executive council for all land transactions concerning residents and non-residents.