Preamble

It truly amazes me that there is no MLA – not even Green Party Leader Matt MacFarlane – who is willing to speak the truth about IRAC’s inability to represent the interests of Islanders in an investigation into Bliss & Wisdom Inc.

We keep hearing them talk about the need for more transparency and openness at IRAC, the need for changes in the appointment of leadership soaked in patronage, even a full-on review of IRAC to assess accountability, but…

As long as IRAC’s alleged “arms-length independence” (which creates the necessary “cloak of secrecy” that we keep getting thrown at us), then we will continue to be kept in the dark.

Remember when our MLAs were scolded by the former head of IRAC and told that they couldn’t even ask “if” an investigation into Irving-owned Brendel Farms was happening at IRAC, let alone anything ABOUT that or any other investigation that might be underway?

Listen to the former head of IRAC, Scott Mackenzie, as he explains this “hands off” policy to the MLAs, who had called upon him hoping to be “enlightened” so they could, uh, you know….GOVERN!

Play it again.

This time, listen VERY carefully to the very beginning of MacKenzie’s answer. His colleague, another Commissioner, Doug Clow, said a quick, but very distinct “NO” to the question whether there had been or was any investigation into Buddhist organizations.

SO, WHAT’S CHANGED?

What do you or I know about what has been happening within IRAC with this second “alleged” investigation supposedly started 10 months ago, back when now-skedaddled Minister Steven Myers called upon IRAC?

Nothing!

Absolutely nothing in fact.

The terms of reference? 

No clue.

Scope?

Same.

What was “asked for” specifically by the Opposition Green Party and Standing Committee regarding an investigation was the upfront disclosure of all those key “particulars” to Islanders.

What was “promised” generally by Premier Lantz with this second investigation was that Islanders would not be kept in the dark this time around, but rather, we would be kept in the “loop”.

All indications are that things will carry-0n like usual at IRAC – both during the dust storm, and after the dust settles.

IRAC is powerful.

The “engine” of the backroom Insider Club.

The PC government has just bowed to that power by expanding it enormously. Premier Lantz gave IRAC “final say” over 10 more pieces of Legislation on the final day of the Fall sitting,

He took some heat for it, especially from Green Leader Matt MacFarlane.

The Premier’s response was to say that the public frustration with the commission “probably stems from the length of time it takes to get decisions on certain items,” brushing off concern over potential “conflict of interests,” and whitewashing corruption with a dismissive comment implicitly meaning “we can’t do anything about it!   

He said: “…it’s hard not to be politically connected in some way in Prince Edward Island. It’s a very small place.”

It’s hard not to take a pile of money you find sitting on a table unattended that doesn’t belong to you too, but that’s just another way of describing “temptation to sin”. It certainly doesn’t make it either right nor even permissible just because it’s “hard”!

Leaders should be governed by the law and by ethical standards that aim to serve virtues like honesty and integrity, not self-serving vices like laziness serving expediency and convenience. 

No, Premier Lantz. Islanders are not frustrated with IRAC because of delays at IRAC. They hate the secrecy, the arrogance, and they have no reason to trust the leadership – as “eminently qualified” as they may be – because of the very thing that you so casually dismiss and then ignore  – Conflicts of Interest.

I really want other MLAs to consider what follows very carefully, from the ethical perspective of what you read in “conflict of interest” policies. 

Policies that identify that the goal is not simply to avoid conflicts of interest, but to AVOID PERCEPTION of them as well, in that they undermine public trust and erode the integrity of the investigation process and work.

In the midst of a complete collapse of trust in this powerful Island institution among Islanders, the Premier praises Pam Williams’ competence (no one is questioning her superpowers, just whether they’re all being used to save “humanity: or “for a retirement fund”), as Lantz expands that power substantially. 

What does the Chair, former Chief of Staff to Premier King and Cox & Palmer lawyer, have to be worried about with a contract securing her tenure for 10 years bestowed on her by former PC Premier Dennis King?

We now have legislation ‘compelling’ IRAC to show us its final reports from investigations, and we think we’ve tamed this wild animal?

Head-shaking time folks! 

There aren’t just “perceptions” of conflicts of interests with this investigation into Bliss & Wisdom, the leadership – both Chair and Vice-Chair – are embedded in a trinity of integrated, mutually supportive conflicts that make them look more like members of Bliss & Wisdom than the Island Regulatory Agency. 

But first….

A QUICK REVIEW OF THE LAST 10 MONTHS 

Back in February 2025, a legislative standing committee had voted to ask the provincial government to trigger a new investigation into land owned by Buddhist organizations on Prince Edward Island just prior to Myers announcement.

That came after the Coalition for the Protection of P.E.I. Land wrote an open letter to Premier Dennis King published in the Eastern Graphic asking for the same thing.

Matt MacFarlane, at a February 6th Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability committee meeting, said the following about what the “ask” should be: 

I would bring a motion to have this
committee submit in writing to the minister
a request that a further investigation – a new
investigation – be undertaken with respect to
the landholdings in that community, which
would include making the request public to
Islanders to see what the terms of reference
of that request to IRAC would be for the
investigation – obviously, the report that
would flow from that investigation would
also be made public – and that the
investigation go beyond the corporate
structures but look at the issue of indirect
ownership of land.

Was it even a call to investigate “Bliss & Wisdom Inc.” that Myers issued? 

Or was it simply a call to investigate two of its many subsidiaries: GEBIS (monks) and GWBI (nuns)?

That’s what the headlines said:

That’s a lot of “preamble” or introduction to this article; however, it is imperative that we understand how we truly are in a “lawless” kind of mindset with respect to our shared public “ethos” – what Sociologist Emile Durkheim called our “collective unconscious.” 

Morally has gone out the window pretty much with no consequences for publicly exposed wrongdoing of a major magnitude. IRAC covered up land fraud and allowed it to continue AND THAT IS A PROVABLE FACT (I’d be sued if it wasn’t) yet we see no problem handing the same issue/file to them again when the future of PEI is on the line?

The remainder of this article reviews some of the key details of three different but related “conflicts of interests with the leadership at the Island Regulatory Appeals Commission (IRAC) involving bringing Chinese immigrants to PEI and ensuring their success as “clients” in a relationship blessed with an official seal of secrecy, the “client-solicitor privilege”. 

Any one of these three is serious enough to warrant taking IRAC out of the equation with respect to the land investigation into Bliss & Wisdom Inc. that needs to happen. 

Not one, not two….THREE major “conflicts of interest”

The leadership of IRAC – both the Chair and the Vice-Chair – are.,,

(1) Embedded with the PC Party at the very center, the Party which allowed land fraud to happen while keeping it secret from Islanders. That creates at least the perception of a “conflict of interest” with both the Chair and Vice-Chair.

Carpenter was a key part of the PC Party executive and key part of Dennis King’s bid for PC leader and Premier. Williams was King’s Chief of Staff for the last 6 years of his tenure.

Williams and Carpenter are also..

(2) Embedded with Cox & Palmer law firm (which is itself now embedded with the PC Party), i.e., both Williams and Carpenter were appointed by outgoing Premier Dennis King to IRAC.

Carpenter moved to Cox & Palmer after being an independent lawyer for over 2 decades when King put her at IRAC back in August 2019. 

Cox & Palmer have been the legal counsel for Bliss & Wisdom subsidiaries from the beginning of their time in PEI. They have, therefore, most undoubtedly had prior knowledge as legal counsel of wrongdoing, which was never reported.

At the same time, their law firm has assisted Bliss & Wisdom to advance their interests in PEI using every legal maneuver possible, as good lawyers are trained to do, yet surely being aware of how the monks and nuns were registered as “subsidiaries” of Bliss & Wisdom.

Given that both Pam Williams and Kerri Carpenter are Cox & Palmer loyal is a glaring “perceived conflict of interest” which should take the investigation from IRAC and see it done properly by a PEI provincial public inquiry.

But there’s another, and in my opinion BIGGER reason why IRAC should be nowhere near this investigation that most Islanders are likely not aware of.

IRAC LEADERSHIP AND PNP INTERMEDIARIES

The third conflict has everything to do with the “big picture” and long-term vision for PEI embedded in the Provincial Nominee Program with respect to Chinese immigration to PEI:

(3) The Chair and Vice-Chair have not simply been in a law firm promoting and providing legal counsel to Bliss and Wisdom locally on topical issues.

Nor have they been simply attached at the hip with a government keeping secrets about long-term plans for a “1000-year Bliss & Wisdom Buddhist temple” and Guan Yin statue bigger than the empire state building and would want to keep all that quiet.

These two individuals have also been connected to the much bigger, “behind the scenes,” international plan bringing Chinese citizens to PEI, and they have been for a very long time.

They would therefore clearly have a ‘vested interest’ in keeping any wrongdoing by both government, lawyers, realtors, etc. or Bliss & Wisdom from public view because of their own involvement and obligations legally as ‘counsel’ to Bliss & Wisdom Inc. and its numerous subsidiaries.

Back in 2017, I posted a list of PNP Intermediaries on my website appointed by former Liberal Premier Wade MacLauchlan with  a column adding “directors,” and another adding some “notes” on those directors.

You can go to that Post here if you’re interested: Intermediaries for PNP – Fleeing Babylon.

Note that it’s likely that some of the principals in the Intermediary companies have changed since I put this chart up, but that’s not the case with the two Intermediaries discussed in this article, for which I’ve taken screen-captures from that chart. 

I’ve written about Kerri Carpenter’s involvement in PNP before; however, it occurred to me that most Islanders are likely unaware that one of the 12 PNP intermediaries that has also been bringing Chinese nationals to PEI – many undoubtedly connected to Bliss & Wisdom – is COX & PALMER law firm,

I’ll  get to that in a minute, but given that it is actually Kerri Carpenter who in charge of land at IRAC, I’ll start with a quick review of her core immigration interests that creates a major conflict of interest (i.e., she’ll be investigating organizations with members who are ‘former or existing clients’ she helped to bring to PEI).

2.  KERRI CARPENTER: PNP INTERMEDIARY AND “FUSION” PARTNER

Pam Williams may be the head of IRAC, but Kerri Carpenter runs the land portfolio, according to the legislation, so if she has conflicts of interest – it matters!

She does.

The following capture is taken from my website post titled, “Who’s who in PEI’s 12 PNP Intermediaries,”:

Kerri had been one of the initial “seven” Intermediaries for many years when Wade MacLauchlan expanded it to 12.

Kerri is also a PARTNER in Atlantic Fusion Law Group as I mentioned, which is focused exclusively on immigration.

This capture was just taken from Fusion’s website, so Carpenter is still actively engaged in immigration work while holding the powerful position of “Vice-Chari”, which is the position at IRAC which the legislation has designated responsibility for LAND which I mentioned, and I’m presuming, all things pertaining to PEI LAND transactions, including investigations.

As you can see from the “Fusion Team,” one of her team at Fusion, no surprise, specializes in real estate.

3, COX & PALMER – “GLOBAL BRIDGE” BASED IN VANCOUVER, B.C.

This is the info on Cox & Palmer taken from my previous website article:

On top of the particular history of involvement in PNP immigration and immigration consulting that Kerri Carpenter brought with her when she joined C0x & Palmer, in a way, she also “super-charged” her PNP interests by tying herself to another powerful player in the immigration game in PEI, operating through a company Cox & Palmer partnered with based in Vancouver, BC.: Global Bridge.

“Global Bridge PEI” was set up and incorporated in PEI, and has it’s own website, with a Charlottetown address and local 902 phone number, but the “immigration work” (other than a legal opinion put together by a C & P lawyer – is all clearly done by the Chinese owner and team at Global Bridge in Vancouver.

The head of Global Bridge in Vancouver is Sosana Chan.

I took that photo from LinkedIn – Notice that there is one “mutual connection” showing up – Jamie Aitken, the head of the PEI IIDI-run PNP.

I used to think that Frank Zha0 was really the only one brining Chinese immigrants to and through PEI. He was organizing and going on all the trade missions, had connections in China, etc., but I wasn’t aware of these “Chinese immigration experts” working with Cox & Palmer on the West Coast at the time.

Given both the location [Vancouver] and Chinese background of 2 of the 4 people working out of the Vancouver office, it appears that Cox and Palmer law firm are also solidly rooted in this China-PEI immigration business.

If you go to Global Bridge’s FB page, you’ll see how the PEI website/address/phone is really just a “referral service”. 

The post I took a capture of – for example – gives information about PNP numbers approved for PEI. Those interested are directed to Global Bridge’s website based in Vancouver, not Global Bridge PEI, a website homepage which looks like this:

If you search the PEI Corporate Registry, you’ll find both “Global Bridge PEI” and “Global Bridge” registered in PEI, which is important to note, because if it wasn’t registered here, it would not be able to do business in PEI, showing that it IS DOING BUSINESS.

Summary

There are frequent comments from politicians these days about how Islanders have a right to know what’s going on with land.

There was also unanimous support for a Bill in the House recently to made IRAC show its final reports to Islanders.

The underlying “assumption” behind this chatter about “honesty and openness at IRAC” is a smokescreen that fails to show any leadership.

Given the multi-layered, integrated “conflicts of interests” with both the Chair and Vice-Chair of IRAC regarding Chinese immigration to PEI, the fact that no MLA ( to my knowledge) has ever suggested that we should have a provincial public inquiry to undertake a full-scope investigation speaks volumes.

IRAC knew all about the land fraud back in 2015-16 and SAID NOTHING, but chose rather to keep it secret, and to allow the land acquisition far exceeding the legal limits to continue.

Do we honestly expect we’re going to get anything by way of real truth and justice from these immigration-lawyers who helped bring and establish Bliss & Wisdom Inc. here?

Not a single MLA wants to expose the extensive PEI government corruption involved with Bliss & Wisdom inc., and they all know that will never happen if IRAC does the investigation, because IRAC has been there right beside those secret dealings in lock-step for years.

Until MLAs are willing to actually put a process in place – a provincial public inquiry – that might bring forth some real insight and truth, they really should stop already with all their talk of Islanders “right to know”.

It’s insulting, and completely disingenuous.

This is a truly unprecedented and transformative social/political issue for PEI that calls into question the very integrity of our little, quaint government presiding over less than 200,000 people…and the world is now WATCHING!

Sadly, I see it ending badly.