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 "Nova Scotia auditor general Jacques Lapointe studies some notes Wednesday at the release of his report on the province's failed immigration nominee program.(Tim Krochak / Staff)</p>")
The RCMP is reviewing five files from an ill-fated provincial immigration program, including payments to a lawyer who apparently didn't do any work on behalf of some immigrants, and how the program operator seems to have used immigration fees to buy into a business.
The revelations were in auditor general Jacques Lapointe's second report on the economic stream of the provincial nominee program, released Wednesday. Mr. Lapointe said his office investigated some matters as far as possible, then sent the five to the RCMP last month.
Other concerns were the use of "phantom agents" who worked on the immigrants' files, a businessman with two companies who collected money even though immigrants who were supposed to work there did not, and the transfer of $190,000 from a trust account holding immigrants' fees.
Mr. Lapointe said the audit turned up many problems.
"Our audit into this area discovered a significant number of irregularities, inappropriate payments and other flaws," Mr. Lapointe told a news conference.
The province established the economic stream in 2002 when it signed an untendered contract with Cornwallis Financial Corp. to administer it.
Immigrants paid $130,500 in fees to be fast-tracked into Canada. The biggest chunk, $100,000, was for a six-month mentorship in a middle-management position at a Nova Scotia business. The immigrant was to receive at least $20,000.
Another $20,000 fee was to pay an agent, though Mr. Lapointe said many immigrants weren't aware of that.
The report notes that a Halifax-area lawyer was listed as an agent for at least a handful of nominees. Of seven interviewed, two weren't aware of the lawyer's name, and the other five thought his name appeared as a technical requirement.
But in each case, they said the lawyer didn't do any work on their behalf, and they didn't know he received an agent commission of $18,000 to $20,000 a person.
Mr. Lapointe found the lawyer received $116,000 in payments between May 2, 2003, and March 20 of this year. But in January and April, $79,935 was returned to immigrants. Mr. Lapointe said the lawyer refused to speak with him, so he couldn't explain why the lawyer received the fees and returned a portion of them.
Sources said the lawyer is Brian MacLellan of the firm Wickwire Holm. Mr. MacLellan said he had no comment.
"Any involvement that I have ever had with the program is one where I would have been a lawyer for various parties and I can't comment on anything due to solicitor-client privilege," he said in a telephone interview.
Mr. Lapointe's office also examined a contract Cornwallis had with an unnamed Moncton firm that would give Cornwallis a "master franchise" that would allow Cornwallis, with the co-operation of the Moncton firm, to sell franchises throughout Atlantic Canada.
The contract said Cornwallis was to forward $100,000 to the company via the nominee program.
Cornwallis president Stephen Lockyer said on the telephone that he couldn't comment on the report but he e-mailed a short statement later in the afternoon.
He said Mr. Lapointe had accepted the province's assumptions and ignored the terms of the deal between Cornwallis and the province, as well as industry norms.
"The auditor general's report is full of misstatements of fact and misunderstanding of the circumstances," Mr. Lockyer said. "This matter is before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and Cornwallis will present its case before the court."
Cornwallis sued the province in 2006, after the province ended the contract with Cornwallis in June that year.
Mr. Lapointe also had concerns with the use of "phantom agents" — people who weren't lawyers or members of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants but did work on an immigrant's file. He said he wasn't sure if the arrangements between phantom agents and lawyers met the spirit of federal immigration rules.
RCMP spokesman Sgt. Mark Gallagher said Mounties are reviewing the information Mr. Lapointe provided and it would take a couple of months or more to respond.
New Democrat MLA Graham Steele, a member of the public accounts committee that examined the report Wednesday morning, said he's never seen a more poorly managed program.
"The deficiencies listed in your report are stunning," he said during the meeting. "And the best analogy I can use for what happened here is like a feeding frenzy, where a bunch of people smelled money and took shameless advantage of immigrants to this province, and it's a shame of our government they allowed it to happen by setting up a program with weak controls and poor oversight."
The report said there were brokers who charged companies $3,000 to $20,000 for lining up an immigrant, while some immigrants paid extra fees on top of their $130,500.
Liberal MLA Diana Whalen said the least the government could do to start rebuilding the province's reputation as a welcoming place is to apologize for the program's problems.
Premier Rodney MacDonald did that later in a media scrum, saying he was sorry for the immigrants who had a bad experience with the program, which he said was "obviously flawed."
"Of course we apologize to individuals," he said. "When government does something wrong in a program or has issues in a program, then we have to accept responsibility. And as premier, in any program that we have in government, it is important to recognize if there is an issue with a program, then you deal with it."
Mr. MacDonald said his government did not renew the Cornwallis contract, cancelled that stream of the program and supported the idea of an auditor general's review. He also pointed out the report did not point blame at government staff.
Immigration Minister Len Goucher dismissed suggestions the program failed and noted there have been successes in its goal of attracting immigrants.
Of 829 people the province recommended to Ottawa for fast-tracking, 633 were in the country as of Aug. 31. Of those, more than 400 are in Nova Scotia, Mr. Goucher told reporters in the afternoon.
"Whether the program was an ultimate success or whether it was a dog, you can call it what you want. I personally believe that this program has served its function."
Ms. Whalen wasn't buying it.
"This government is clearly out of touch," she said. "I'm telling you a child could develop a better program and would have attracted more immigrants to this province than we've seen."
New Democrat immigration critic Leonard Preyra said the government seems to be in a serious state of denial about the program.
"The fact is the government created this cesspool of incompetence and some corruption," he said.
"I think it's reprehensible that the government is now saying that the program achieved its purposes."
With Amy Smith, provincial reporter
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| Walther PPK wrote: Another case of case of cronyism between business people and corporate business parties in Canada like the Conservatives and the Liberals – who claim to understand the economy the best – is for a few days in the media. But not much has happened since the last time: "Cornwallis Financial Corp. and its president, Stephen Lockyer were among the largest donors to Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative party in the years it ran the province's immigration program. From 2001 to 2006, Lockyer and his company donated a total of $15,057.49 to the governing party, which handed it an exclusive, untendered contract to administer the key file." (Nova Scotia Business Journal, 25/10/07). Just follow the money and you will find out who has benefited. The program started back in 2002 through the NS Office of Economic Development and the minister at the time was Cecil Clarke, now Minister of Justice and Attourney General. He should step down from public office, because he has been the one to stamp the contract with Cornwallis and continued to be the minister responsible for the program for at least another year. In a democracy there cannot be room for nepotism; else one has to call it plutocracy or even kleptocracy. |
| philv wrote: This should cost Rodney and a couple of his minister's their jobs - at the very least!! |
| mexicowilkie wrote: The government, eager to show they are facilitating immigration to Nova Scotia, buys into a scheme that is ripe for taxpayer pocket pickers to take advantage of. The with minimum effort it is taken full advantage of. Surprised? |
| Heatherdee wrote: I completely agree with Mr Preyra's assessment. I am not one to blame government for everything, but I know my patience is running pretty thin witnessing yet more unaccountability from this government, and I know I am not alone. I have nothing but high regards for Mr. Clarke, but this Nova Scotian will not be satifisfied with a few senior unnamed bureacrats being wrist-slapped and I applaud the opposition members for keeping at it. This is twenty times worse than any scandal any provincial government has had their hand into and probably the most damaging. This program has not been successful.If I were Mr. Clarke, I'd be very concerned over being told only two days ago that as the minister responsible for the contract at the time that my cabinet colleagues went over my head to tell senior officials in my department that contract was to be tendered. (When it ought to have been anyway as per procurement rules). And now he's Attorney General/Min of Justice, and the province is involved in a lawsuit. Does anyone not see the conflict of interest here or have I got this all wrong? If this is how the Province works with the private sector, heaven help those P3 projects they boast about. More lawsuits for Nova Scotians on the way. |
| zippo2468 wrote: I am quite sure no one will go to jail for ripping of the new people coming to our country. They should be ashamed, nice way to treat people who want to be canadians. It is no wonder they all want to go out west. |
| annmarie wrote: Hopefully, the RCMP will get to the bottom of this. Immigrants did get one very important thing that they wanted and that was to come to Canada to start over. Also, there's an old saying, as a matter of fact, a couple of them, Buyer Beware is one of them. I hope that the immigrants involved in this are not trying to put the taxpayer on the hook for this. |
| Wake Up Canada wrote: All Mr.MacDonald will do is find a weak link (pay them off),so that everyday business continues.Why are we "the tax-payers",aren't seeing these(Minister's),being charged for their crimes????? Just because you hold the title "CROWN",means ---- in todays world.It's time that Canada adopts it's own Law & Order,and send these animals to prison with no parole! |
| JT from Redneck County wrote: The corrupt investigating the corrupt, Hmnnnnn |
| Frank wrote: Untendered contracts and little or no oversight, is anyone surprised that the money disappeared. Governments should not be in the business of handing out taxpayers money to special interest groups, community groups, businesses or whatever, it is just a given the money will be squandered. Isn't this the second time in the last few days that it has been found that money given to a special interest group disappeared. The best way for government to help the economy and all taxpayers is to simply lower taxes. Evidently that should not be a problem, there seems to be plenty of money to throw around. |
| Wingman wrote: Make sure the company and any individuals who profited from this are charged and the money recovered. Why should I as a taxpayer be on the hook for this. |
| rcraigfader wrote: such a disgrace to the province. such a disgrace to good people who want to live in NS. what will we learn? probably nothing. hillbillies run the show. vote for the bigger moron next time |
| Real Luke wrote: I am keen to know why the lawyer repaid/refund/returned the funds he had in his possession. I don't know why he is hiding behind the priviledge doctrine. Was it surplus funds or damage control? |
| worldly wrote: Let's be clear, there was no taxpayer money squandered here. The money was the immigrants money. They entered into an arrangement; pay $130,000 and get an opportunity to move to Canada, and get a passport. Period. No one was ripped off. They knew, the government knew and Cornwallis knew. This was a transaction between the parties. The government increased its immigrant population, the immigrants got into Canada, and Cornwallis made a profit by facilitating the transaction. And the money was paid by the immigrants. Not the government. As far as 3rd party agencies, if they helped in the process they should be compensated. This was a win, win, win scenario. Lastly, if my recollection serves me from earlier stories; Cabinet directed officials to send this out for a competitive bid. That direction was either ignored or overlooked. No government payola for a supporter in that scenario. And that is a verified fact. |
| Heatherdee wrote: Well worldly, taxpayer's money is certainly being used to sort out the mess not to mention gov't time. That directive was apparently news to Cecil Clarke, Minister responsibley at the time. He told reporters he just found that out two (now three) days ago. Cabinet went over his head to give his officials direction? Really? That sounds a little cuckoo to me, especially how this revelation is just being "discovered" after how long? Also one would think the use of agents in an already "fast track" program was completely unecessary for a process that had Dept of Immigration on board. Agents are not a requirement anyway even for regular streams. This is not a win-win-win situation. It's a greed-fraud-embarassing one. |
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