Three Rivers council considering legal options around 'outlandish claims' regarding Buddhist land holdings
Critic David Weale says it appears council members are ‘bought and paid for'
Some members of Three Rivers Council say they've had enough of what they've characterized as slanderous comments and "outlandish claims" regarding matters over which they say they have no control.
The accusations are around the land holdings of Buddhist monks in eastern P.E.I. For months now, comments that originated on social media have been spilling into council chambers, brought forward to meetings by people who live in the community and even some who live outside its borders.
"I'm tired of being accused of accepting bribes and money and being on the take," said Coun. Anne Van Donkersgoed at a council meeting Monday after Brent McKinnon, who's not a resident of Three Rivers, criticized councillors for not explicitly stating they've received no financial benefits from GEBIS, the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society.
Then, Three Rivers resident Charlie Hicken told councillors he had contacted RCMP in Ottawa about the matter.
"It's not true and I'm happy for someone to investigate that. And if you don't have the proof to have it investigate[d] then stop saying it because then it becomes slander," Van Donkersgoed responded at the meeting.
Accusations council members appear to be 'bought and paid for'
The latest accusations, as with many before, stem from comments posted on the Facebook account of David Weale, a writer and former UPEI professor.
In a post dated Jan. 25, Weale accused Three Rivers councillors of "treachery," saying "it would appear that some councillors are bought and paid for, or that other members are being rewarded in some other fashion(s)" by GEBIS, the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Society.
Weale offered no specific examples of councillors receiving incentives, but referred to council being "so mysteriously unanimous in their support for GEBIS and the shockingly out-of-scale plans being put in place by that organization," and wrote "we are going to be taking a closer look at individual members" of council in the days ahead.
CBC News has not substantiated Weale's claims.
CBC reached out to Weale, who declined a request for an interview but offered to answer a series of written questions.
CBC asked, among other things, what evidence Weale had to support his claim that council members had received financial gain, what course of action he wanted council to take, whether there were specific votes Weale was referring to that illustrate council's support for GEBIS, and why his criticism has been aimed at Three Rivers council when oversight of P.E.I.'s Lands Protection Act and immigration programs fall under provincial jurisdiction.
"The line of questioning is entirely biased and one-sided. Every single one of your questions has, not an investigative slant, but an accusatory one," Weale replied, refusing to answer the questions.
Three Rivers CAO John Jamieson told CBC via email that council has "engaged a lawyer with experience in defamation of character to review the social media posts of several people," and said a report is expected next week.
Post prompts response from monks
Coun. Alan Munro responded to Weale's post, saying "these councillors are your neighbours and good people – stop it with these outlandish claims of councillors on the take."
Weale's comments also prompted a response from a Facebook page run by members of GEBIS, one of the Buddhist organizations with significant land holdings in Three Rivers.
"We condemn David Weale's divisive words, which have almost incited violence in our community and show blatant disregard for others' well-being," said a post from the Facebook account About Monks. "When his words harm more than just ourselves, causing damage to our community's fabric, we can no longer remain silent."
The post also said GEBIS had invited Weale to meet the group to discuss his concerns, but he declined.
A spokesperson for GEBIS, Walter Tsai, told CBC in an interview that "criticism is criticism. But without evidence… I think these [comments] went way beyond just criticism. These are things that can potentially evoke violence and actions. So we feel this is something that we have to do something about."
Three Rivers moved one of its meetings online, and had security present for some public meetings last fall after one person posted a response on Weale's Facebook page saying it was "time to get the guns out and sharpen those knives" with regard to land issues in the municipality.
The MLA for Montague-Kilmuir Cory Deagle also weighed in, saying, "Instead of attacking and slandering the Town of Three Rivers councillors please feel free to call me… Land is a provincial issue and these councillors do not deserve these insults and accusations being hurled at them."
Deagle did not respond to a request for an interview from CBC News. Minister of Housing, Land and Communities Steven Myers also represents a district within Three Rivers. A request for an interview with Myers prompted a statement in response.
"Land is a provincial issue and any concerns should be directed to the province," the statement reads. "We continue to have conversations with council and the CAO and will support the municipal government in whatever way we can."
No change to allow 'super-community,' town says
One of the criticisms levelled at council is that it's changing the municipality's development bylaw to allow GEBIS to create its own "super-community" with its own fire and police services in areas it owns that are defined as institutional zones.
But Van Donkersgoed, who chairs Three Rivers' planning board, said those aren't permitted uses in institutional zones under the current bylaw, and an amendment sent to the province for final approval won't change that.
Both the amendment and the town's existing development bylaw list fire, police stations and hospitals under the definition of "institutional use" applying to the municipality as a whole, but do not include those as permitted uses within an actual institutional zone like the monks own.
Van Donkersgoed said the town is lowering the threshold for the size of buildings that can go up within an institutional zone without requiring council approval to 20 square metres, meaning any new building "other than a garden shed" the monks want to put up would have to be approved in an open meeting.
"So it gives more transparency," she said. But "the people that have decided what they want to believe are just continuing to believe what they want to believe."
"It's really hard to provide good governance in the age of social media."
Mayor says house sold for 'fair market value'
There have also been suggestions that Three Rivers Mayor Debbie Johnston improperly profited from the sale of her house.
Provincial records show Johnston and her husband Paul sold their home in Montague in August 2020 for $251,749.
Johnston told CBC on Thursday that was $26,000 below the list price, and said she and her husband didn't know who bought their home until they asked their realtor, after the Globe and Mail reported in 2023 that the Johnstons had sold their home to the Buddhists.
"We got a cheque from our lawyer. I never had no idea who bought the house and when that came out… I did call the real estate agent to ask him who did buy it. He gave me the name, it was an Asian name. My house sold for fair market value," Johnston told CBC.
Property records show the buyer of the Johnston's home lives in Charlottetown. There's nothing to indicate whether that person has any connection with any Buddhist organization.
Johnston and Van Donkersgoed said they share concerns about the concentration of land ownership in the municipality and the rising cost of home ownership. But both maintain this is beyond the town's ability to control.
P.E.I.'s Lands Protection Act limits how much land individuals and corporations can own on the Island. The act is administered by the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, while the provincial cabinet decides whether land purchases are allowed to go ahead.
"There's all kinds of people that own or control large parts of P.E.I. But that's nothing that we can do at Three Rivers," Van Donkersgoed said.
"That has to be [the] provincial government."
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