Former RCMP Director, Solicitor General Warn About CCP Threat and Land Acquisitions at PEI Hearing

CHARLOTTETOWN–Prince Edward Island needs a new approach to land acquisition regulations amid today’s national security realities and Beijing’s subversion attempts, a former senior officer with the RCMP told a provincial hearing in Charlottetown on July 6.Gary Clement, former national director of the RCMP’s Proceeds of Crime program, said that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is “one of the most ruthless transnational organized crime groups we’ve ever faced,” and that the province needs a more comprehensive approach when it comes to land ownership issues to protect public interest.“The objective should not be more regulation. The objective should be smarter regulation,” Clement told a panel of the members of the Review of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.The independent commission was formed by the province in May to examine the structure and  responsibilities of PEI’s Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC), a regulatory body overseeing energy and land regulations and appeals processes related to these issues.The commission’s formation follows revelations by a provincial legislative committee last year that IRAC didn’t publish a report on a 2016-2018 investigation related to major land acquisitions on the island by the groups Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society (GEBIS) and the Great Wisdom Buddhist Institute (GWBI).Gary Clement, former national director of the RCMP’s Proceeds of Crime program, speaks at a public hearing of the Review of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission in Charlottetown on July 6, 2026. Omid Ghoreishi/The Epoch TimesPEI Premier Rob Lantz has also asked for the RCMP and Canada’s anti-money-laundering agency, FINTRAC, to probe the issue in October 2025, following a press conference by Clement and his co-investigators in Ottawa the previous month on security concerns related to land acquisitions and CCP interference concerns in PEI.“These allegations primarily center around the activities of certain Buddhist groups and their affiliates operating in the province and build on years of public speculation and uncertainty,” Lantz wrote in his Oct. 16, 2025, letter to the RCMP.A Bliss and Wisdom facility in rural Prince Edward Island on Aug. 29, 2024. Omid Ghoreishi/The Epoch TimesThe July 6 hearing also featured presentations from a number of other members of the public and citizen groups, including Wayne Easter, a former PEI Liberal MP and former Solicitor General of Canada, who is calling for a federal public inquiry into the operations of GEBIS and GWBI and their affiliates.“Islanders deserve to understand who is investing in our land, what the long-term intentions are, and whether any external political interests could be influencing local decisions,” Easter said.“We are living in a time of foreign influence, whether economic, political, or institutional. It is a global issue.”GEBIS and GWBI didn’t return a request for comment.GWBI says on its website that “there is no big business or government controlling GWBI, GEBIS, or Bliss and Wisdom,” and that allegations that their spiritual leader, teacher Zhen-Ru, has close links to the Beijing regime are false. GEBIS told The Epoch Times in a past statement that it has “absolutely no affiliation with the Chinese government.”New ApproachClement has co-authored a book into the issues of CCP’s interference titled “Canada Under Siege: How Prince Edward Island Became a Forward Operating Base for the Chinese Communist Party.” His co-authors are Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a former senior manager with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and Dean Baxendale, CEO of the China Democracy Fund and Optimum Publishing International.Clement told the panel that PEI needs a new Land and Economic Security Commission that is solely focused on matters related to “land ownership, strategic investments, beneficial ownership transparency, and economic security.”He added that the province needs to establish stronger coordination mechanisms with federal security and intelligence agencies such the RCMP and CSIS.“Foreign influence networks, money laundering organizations, and organized crime groups do not respect provincial boundaries. Neither can the response,” Clement said. Transparency Into OwnershipWayne Easter, a former PEI Liberal MP and former Solicitor General of Canada (L), and Jan Matejcek, co-founder of Save PEI, give a presentation at a public hearing of the Review of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission in Charlottetown on July 6, 2026. Omid Ghoreishi/The Epoch TimesBesides calling for a federal inquiry, Easter also called for requirements similar to those in B.C. to increase transparency around beneficial ownership to make it clear who the true owners of purchased properties are. He made a number of other recommendations as well to increase transparency.“Beneficial ownership should be the criteria for land approval. Decisions must be transparent. We require provincial foreign agent’s registry. Staff must be independent and expert in the field,” Easter listed as recommendations to the panel.Easter urged IRAC to trace where the money used to purchase land on the Island by the organizations under scrutiny has come from.“Trace that money back to the corporation or whatever, and it may even be in another country. That’s the only way you’re going to get to the bottom of this issue in terms of beneficial ownership,” he said.“This isn’t about monks and nuns. This is about people that are working in the shadows behind the nuns and monks, and using them as pawns, just as they’re using us,” he added to applause from attendees of the public hearing.Jan Matejcek, co-founder of the citizen group Save PEI who co-presented with Easter, noted that a recent report by the Washington-based think tank Jamestown Foundation found that Halifax and Charlottetown have had the highest number of events held by Chinese Consulates in Canada.“Clearly, the East Coast and PEI are the main targets for the Chinese government influence operations. How many more warnings does PEI need before taking action?” Matejcek said.CommissionCommissioner Rory Francis (C) speaks at a public hearing of the Review of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission in Charlottetown on July 6, 2026. Also appearing on the panel are Kelly VanBuskirk (L), legal counsel for the commission, and Dawn Binns, executive director of the commission. Omid Ghoreishi/The Epoch TimesCommissioner Rory Francis, a former executive in public and private sectors appointed to conduct the review, told The Epoch Times that the scope of the review is solely focused on IRAC’s role, “which is very specific, not a decision maker when it comes to land ownership, it’s an advisory to government.”“We have to stay in our lane,” he added.PEI Green Party Leader Matthew MacFarlane, who has been very vocal about issues surrounding transparency into land ownership issues and attended the hearing as an audience member, said he has heard a lot of concerns from residents about foreign land ownership interests on the island.“It’s an island-wide concern, and it’s something that needs to be addressed in a way better and stronger than government is currently addressing the issues right now,” MacFarlane told The Epoch Times.PEI Green Party Leader and MLA Matthew MacFarlane attended the public hearing of the Review of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission in Charlottetown on July 6, 2026. Omid Ghoreishi/The Epoch TimesLast year, MacFarlane introduced a bill to ensure land investigation reports are made public within 15 days in an effort to bring increased transparency. His bill passed with unanimous support from the governing Progressive Conservatives and the Official Opposition Liberals.The Epoch Times asked the premier’s office and the office of the minister of land and environment for comment, but didn’t hear back by publication time.The July 6 hearing also featured presentations from members of the public and interest groups on energy rates, transparency in regulatory organizations, and property ownership regulations.The commission is expected to deliver its final report by November.