Opposition calls for suspension of P.E.I. government officials

The Opposition PCs are calling on P.E.I.'s finance minister to suspend three senior civil servants after the auditor general connected them with a controversial government loan used to finance government's e-gaming initiative. The revelation from the AG was made Wednesday during a meeting of the province's Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

In her e-gaming report, Auditor General Jane MacAdam outlined how the $950,000 loan was guaranteed by former minister of finance Wes Sheridan, but that the guarantee was provided without cabinet approval as required under Treasury Board policy and under the province's Financial Administration Act.

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Didn't act alone

Wednesday, the AG said Sheridan didn't act alone in approving the loan, but that senior government officials at Island Investment Development Inc. were also involved.

She also clarified, as she stated in her report, that "it is reasonable to expect" those officials to have known what was required to approve the loan under legislation.

It was the leader of the Green Party who asked the AG for the names of the officials involved.

"We know the former finance minister is no longer in government," Bevan-Baker said at the meeting, "but are any of those people who knowingly violated the Financial Administration Act still in government today?"

Three names

The AG responded by providing three names:

• Neil Stewart, formerly the executive director of IIDI, now the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Tourism
• Michael Mayne, former chair of the IIDI board and former deputy minister of innovation, now CEO of Health PEI
• Doug Clow, former IIDI board member and deputy finance minister, now with IRAC

Bevan-Baker later told reporters the three senior bureaucrats should be held accountable.

"We need to set up a framework of accountability, some structures in government so that we don't repeat this," he said. 

Calls for suspensions

Afterwards, the PC Party issued a media release calling on the minister of finance to suspend the three.

"These senior officials were involved with the decision to approve the $950,000 e-gaming loan, based on a loan guarantee that did not have the appropriate authorization," the statement reads.

A spokesperson for the premier's office issued a written response, saying: "As stated within the report, the guarantee letter was signed by the former minister of finance to facilitate funding for the project. This government has indicated that this is not the way that we do business. This includes ensuring government departments do not guarantee security for any provincial loans."

The statement said an update on government's response to the e-gaming report will be provided shortly.

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