Liberals appoint man convicted of fraud to PEI liquor board
Commission board member was sentenced to 18 months probation, ordered to pay restitution of $699 and complete 50 hours of community service
By Paul MacNeill paul@peicanada.com Eastern Graphic
The Ghiz cabinet has appointed a man convicted in 1997 of defrauding the provincial government to the board of the PEI Liquor Commission.
Chris Higgins, of Charlottetown, was appointed September 30, the same day as former Liberal MLA Hector MacLeod. Mr Higgins, a former Liberal riding association president, will serve on the board until September 30, 2012. For each meeting he attends, the 43 year old will receive a per diem of $134. Meetings are normally held monthly.
Provincial Court documents show Mr Higgins was charged in 1996 with six counts of defrauding the government. In September 1997 he pleaded guilty to a single count, with the five remaining charges being dropped. The conviction pertains to fraudulent man-hour reports he submitted to government between December 2, 1992 and April 9th, 1994.
Mr Higgins was sentenced to 18 months probation, ordered to pay restitution of $699 and complete 50 hours of community service.
When contacted Mr Higgins said he could not remember the conviction. When reminded of the specific details he said, “you’re talking about something in 1997. That was 12 years ago.”
He would not answer questions pertaining to the incident or whether he informed the premier’s office of the conviction when he applied for an appointment.
The premier’s office would not comment for this story.
According to the Liquor Commission’s 2007-2008 annual report, the role of the board is to “supervise the business affairs of the commission.” Board member responsibilities listed include “acting honestly and in good faith in making decisions with a view to the best interests of the PEILCC and its stakeholders.”
The provincial cabinet makes appointments to provincial boards. Participate in PEI was created by the Ghiz government as a means of encouraging Islanders to serve on provincial boards or commissions. Applicants are required to submit cover letters outlining their expertise. However, they are not asked if they hold a criminal record.
6 Responses to 'Liberals appoint man convicted of fraud to PEI liquor board'
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The Real question is did they know when he was appointed?
Did Ghiz and the Cabinet actually appoint a convicted criminal to the Liquor Board knowing he has a criminal record?
If they did know and ignored it they all need to resign. If they didn’t know and didn’t ask they are just guilty of being REALLY REALLY STUPID.
You would think in this day & age before you appoint any to a Provincial Board you would do a criminal check. hell you can;t even coach a hockey team now with first having a criminal check done. So how the hell can you get appointed to a provincial Board who job it is to oversee and enforce the liquor laws for PEI without first having a background check done.
Why wouldn’t part of the application include providing your criminal background check report go with your application.
The fact that a hockey coach has more checks done of them than someone who is being appointed and paid to sit on a Provincial Board tells me something is VERY rotten in Charlottetown.
I would like to assume that Ghiz would have already asked for his resignation now that this has come to light.
If Higgins had an ounce of decency or honesty he would already have resigned even by now.
But really Higgins is one of Ghiz advisors and workers..decency,honesty, & integrity are not traits Ghiz asks for in his people if he did he have no staff or advisors or workers.
This is just another nail in Ghiz’s coffin.
Scott
9 Dec 09 at 11:15 pm
Brooke MacMillan is guilty of breach of trust, a criminal offense.
Ghiz and the whole cabinet are thieves. WAKE UP PEI.
rob mceachern
10 Dec 09 at 8:11 am
It gets better – I know Higgins was on George Proud’s executive and was selling “Fun in the Sun” tickets as a Liberal fund raiser and somehow not all the funds would make it to the Liberal coffers – what he did with the money – no one knows BUT TO AVOID THE EMBARRASSMENT THEY PAID THE MONEY THEMSELVESAND BURIED IT! To this day, i am amazed the Liberals (and Shawn Murphy in particular embraced Higgins). At the same time they let go of 2 executive memberswho spoke out against aChretien policy initiative (Clarity Act), It shows that the Liberals prefer people who would do anything rather than honest people. Time to go.
Former Liberal
15 Dec 09 at 9:24 am
Wasn’t Higgin’s the same guy who would sold tickets to Liberal Dinners and the tickets he would be selling were printed by him and only when the buyer would ask for their tax receipt would the party clue into what he was doing. I understand he done this for many years and the Liberal Party said nothing because if they did than revenue Canada would disallow the tax receipts they issued to everyone.
Funny the PEI Liberal Party tried to keep from being investigated by Revenue Canada kept a fraudster in business.
Higgins was well known for his fraudulent activities in the PEI Liberal Party the fact that he even got appointed just goes to show that it doesn;t matter how crooked someone is that Ghiz will apoint anyone no matter how dishonest they are.
Scott
18 Dec 09 at 9:05 pm
Higgins’ activities were eventuslly paid off by riding President Kenny Jenkins – and I think the connection with Higgins are the Browns as he was at the top of the City of Charlottetown’s Seasonal list meaning he got plenty of hours – imagine anyone being associated with the browns as being crooked – LOL
it Gets better
22 Dec 09 at 4:06 am