Strategic Holdings to pay $20K in fines as environmental charges against owner dropped
A judge has ordered Summerside development company Strategic Holdings Inc. to pay $20,000 in fines after the company entered two guilty pleas on environment charges.
Company president and sole shareholder Nathan Kember and his lawyer appeared in court Friday morning and entered the two guilty pleas.
The Crown then withdrew two other environmental charges against the company, as well as the seven environmental charges that had been laid against Kember himself.
The guilty pleas were for altering or disturbing the ground within 15 metres of a watercourse or wetland boundary, and operating heavy machinery in that same area without the proper permits.
The court heard these violations happened on a 40-acre parcel of land at 674 Water St. East in Summerside, where Strategic Holdings is building an apartment complex and driving range.
The property had been historically used for agriculture and has watercourses and wetlands on it, including portions that back onto Summerside Harbour, so it falls under regulations outlined in P.E.I.'s Environmental Protection Act.
No permits to do work
According to an agreed statement of facts read in court Friday, Kember was in touch with the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action, which oversees the act, in July of 2024 about his intentions to carry out ground work on his property.
Summerside-area developer and his company facing environmental charges related to waterways
4 months ago
Duration 1:23
Documents filed in P.E.I. court show that Strategic Holdings and its president Nathan Kember have been charged under the Environmental Protection Act for doing work around waterways without the proper permits.
"During the development process of the land, heavy equipment was used to disturb and reshape the land. [The company] was at all material times responsible for the disturbance of any ground materials during the construction and reshaping of the land," the document reads.
"Neither Mr. Kember nor [the company] had a valid license or permit to allow heavy equipment to enter within 15 metres of a wetland or watercourse boundary or to disturb any ground within 15 metres of a wetland or watercourse boundary on the land."
If you're going to be in the development business … it's up to you to know what the rules are. In these facts before me ... ignorance is no excuse.
The court heard that department staff went to the site in August and discovered that the heavy equipment had been used in that area, and told Kember it was a violation.
In October, the minister signed a ministerial order ordering the remediation of the land.
Days later, staff who went back to the site noted that there was heavy equipment on the site and the land had been further altered.
The next day, staff returned along with a private tow truck operator and seized a dozer from the site. Kember is also facing criminal charges for events that occurred on that day.
The court heard the dozer will now be returned to the company.
Most remediation work has been done
Both the Crown, Chad McQuaid, and Kember's lawyer, Jordan Brown, told Judge Krista MacKay they believed Strategic Holdings should be fined $10,000 for each violation. That's the minimum penalty outlined in the act.
Kember did not speak in court on Friday. Brown spoke on his behalf, highlighting the work his client is doing to provide housing in the community, with a focus on energy-efficient and green developments.
He added that Kember, 32, was born and raised in Summerside, where his family has "significant" connections, and that members of the community and his church were there to support him in court.
"Mr Kember, if you're going to be in the development business … it's up to you to know what the rules are. In these facts before me ... ignorance is no excuse," MacKay told the company's president.
The judge ultimately accepted the joint recommendation of a $20,000 fine.
Summerside developer facing charges for uttering death threats, other crimes
14 days ago
Duration 2:01
Court documents viewed by CBC News say Summerside developer Nathan Kember, 32, threatened to kill three people, at least two of whom work for the provincial government. Kember and his company Strategic Holdings are also facing 11 charges under the Environmental Protection Act, with the province saying they did work in a buffer zone or watercourse without the necessary permits. CBC's Nicola MacLeod reports. .
MacKay went on to tell Kember that she believes the work he is doing to add housing stock to the community is positive, particularly during a housing shortage.
But she also told him if he wants to build green, sustainable communities as he says, he needs to respect environmental laws, particularly when those tasked with enforcing the laws bring issues to his attention.
At this point, Kember tried to interject, but the judge stopped him.
"This is not a debate for you and I," she said. "This is my decision."
The court heard that Kember has completed much of the work required by the terms of the ministerial order last fall, save for one piece — hiring a professional to map out the wetlands and their boundaries on the property. That can occur only between June and September.
"Certainly Mr. Kember has committed that whatever needs to be done will be done," his lawyer told the court, adding that the order has outlined what repercussions he will face if the work isn't completed.
Criminal charges back in court
The criminal charges against Kember were not dealt with Friday, but were adjourned to next month.
The court heard the intention is to divert the matter to alternative measures, a process outside of the judicial system that allows first-time offenders to reflect on their actions and make amends without incurring a criminal record.
Offenders usually sign an agreement to participate in the program through probation services, and the case periodically returns before a judge for an update on its progress.
If the offender completes the steps outlined in the agreement, the charges are stayed. If not, the matter comes back before the courts.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
12 hours ago
- National Post
Opinion: Modernize the legal system to confront 21st-century organized crime
Article content The Jordan framework is a set of legal principles that determine whether a criminal trial has been delayed unreasonably, resulting in a rights violation. It enforces strict trial timelines of 18-30 months, forcing the dismissal of complex cross-border cases that in the U.S. could proceed under exceptions in the Speedy Trial Act. Article content The Stinchcombe disclosure rule requires the Crown to share virtually all evidence publicly, deterring the use of intelligence from our allies in court for fear of compromising sources. Our allies employ measures like public interest immunity or classified information procedures to protect sensitive data. Article content Our organized crime provisions are similarly out of step. The Criminal Code sections pertaining to organized crime (467.1–467.13) require proof of a rigid organizational structure and a benefit motive, a framework ill-suited to the decentralized, cell-based and digital networks driving today's transnational crime. In contrast, the U.S. RICO Act targets patterns of criminal behaviour, allowing prosecutions of crime leaders and facilitators in loosely co-ordinated syndicates. Article content Financial enforcement is equally weak. Between $45 billion and $113 billion is laundered in Canada each year, with British Columbia's Cullen Commission estimating that upwards of $5.3 billion is laundered through B.C. real estate every year. Article content The absence of a robust beneficial ownership registry leaves shell corporations and trusts as attractive vehicles for ' snow-washing ' illicit funds. FINTRAC's limited proactive authority contrasts sharply with the U.S. FinCEN 's ability to issue geographic targeting orders, freeze assets and compel cross-jurisdictional disclosure. Article content Jurisdictional gaps and enforcement silos further undermine our defences. Ports, airports and rail hubs often fall outside the authority of municipal and provincial police unless complex memoranda of understanding are in place, leaving vulnerabilities that organized crime exploits. Article content Intelligence is likewise siloed, with CSIS unable to readily convert its intelligence into admissible evidence — a problem the U.K. mitigates through closed-material proceedings. Article content Canada also lacks the means to compel internet service providers, payment processors and banks to sever support to foreign criminal enterprises, while the European Union's Digital Services Act — an overly restrictive act we should not strive to emulate overall — contains important elements, such as provisions empowering member states to force takedowns of criminal platforms. Article content To address these gaps, Canada should introduce targeted carve-outs to the Stinchcombe disclosure requirements and the Jordan timelines for organized crime and national security cases and create secure protocols for using allied intelligence in prosecutions. Article content The Criminal Code's organized crime sections should be modernized to include enforcement against decentralized networks alongside stronger wiretap and production order powers for digital and offshore data. Article content Financial transparency must be improved through a more robust and enforceable beneficial ownership registry and expanded FINTRAC powers.
Edmonton Journal
18 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
News organizations fight to publicize evidence presented at fitness hearing of suspect in Lapu Lapu attack
Article content A media consortium has challenged a publication ban on evidence at a hearing to determine if the man accused of killing 11 people at Vancouver's Lapu Lapu Day festival is fit to stand trial. Article content The ban, which is supported by both prosecutors and the defence, says evidence in the British Columbia provincial court hearing is not publishable until the ban is lifted or after the end of a criminal trial. Article content Article content Adam Kai-Ji Lo, who attended court by video on Tuesday wearing a blue sweatshirt, faces 11 second-degree murder charges over the ramming attack in April, when an SUV drove through a crowd at a Filipino community festival. Article content Article content Lawyer Daniel Coles, representing the consortium that includes The Canadian Press, argued that lifting the ban would be in the public interest while Crown lawyer Michaela Donnelly and Lo's defence lawyer Mark Swartz opposed lifting or altering the ban. Article content Coles told the court that Vancouver now 'wears the crown of the deadliest vehicle attack in Canadian history' and the attack has garnered significant public attention. He said it was essential to the public interest and the open-court principle to allow the media to report on the matter, as it was not often possible for members of the public to attend court and coverage 'fills that void.' Article content Article content He argued that the court must find a balance between Lo's right to a fair trial with court openness and freedom of expression. Article content 'A proper publication ban — one that can withstand Charter scrutiny — is done with a scalpel and not a hatchet,' he told the court Tuesday. 'It's minimally invasive.' Article content Coles argued that because a trial date has not yet been set, much of what is covered by the fitness hearing 'will be in the rear-view mirror of the public consciousness' by that time. Article content He also said several details are already known by the public, including that Lo had 'significant interactions with police in connection with mental health issues.' Article content 'Any potential juror would know that,' he told the judge, adding that public is also aware of his family history, including the murder of his brother and his mother's attempted suicide. Article content Swartz rebuffed that argument, saying publicly known information is 'very bare bones' and 'quite ambiguous.'
Ottawa Citizen
a day ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Randy Hillier's charge for COVID-19 lockdown protest in Cornwall withdrawn
The legal road for charges filed under the Reopening Ontario Act against former independent MPP Randy Hillier for an anti-lockdown protest in Cornwall came to an end Tuesday. Article content Hillier had contested the constitutionality of the charges filed against him for his involvement in a protest in Cornwall on May 1, 2021, and was vindicated by the Ontario Court of Appeal on April 7. It ruled in his favour in determining the restrictions on gatherings such as the protest in Cornwall violated the Charter right to peaceful assembly; the court said the Ontario Superior Court judge who'd heard Hillier's challenge erred in going too broadly on consideration of whether the restrictions were an acceptable limitation. Article content Article content Article content Given the appeal court's decision, the lingering matter of Hillier's provincial-offence charge filed in 2021 required a formal resolution. Article content Article content Assistant Crown attorney Claudette Breault told Ontario Court of Justice Justice of the Peace Linda Leblanc the Crown was withdrawing the charge. Breault referenced a provincial-offences court appearance scheduled for Brockville on Wednesday — Hillier faced the same charge under the Reopening Ontario Act for another protest in that region — and told the Cornwall court that charge was also being withdrawn. Article content While Crown attorneys rarely provide the rationale for why a charge is withdrawn, in this matter the Ontario Court of Appeal's ruling on the unconstitutionality of the restrictions against public gatherings under the Reopening Ontario Act essentially rendered this prosecution moot. Article content Article content Chris Fleury represented Hillier Tuesday, he has appeared on Hillier's behalf in Cornwall court several times through his association with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms to request adjournments as his colleagues were preparing and arguing the challenges before the Ontario Superior Court and Ontario Court of Appeal. Both parties appeared in court via video conference. Article content Article content The Tuesday withdrawal brings an end to the charges laid against seven people after the May 1, 2021, protest of pandemic restrictions that took place on the grounds of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit in Cornwall. Article content As to his co-defendants who were also charged, their cases reached a conclusion between 2022 and 2024. Article content Kristen Nagle's charge was withdrawn by Crown attorney Alan Findlay in March 2024. Caitlyn Richer's charge was withdrawn in November 2023. The charges filed against Jason Christoff, Sandra Maurais, Gary Jans, and Sarah Choujounian were withdrawn in December 2022. Article content 'They have either done community service work, or the fact of being charged and going through the court process was deemed sufficient,' Findlay said in a March 2023 email in response to inquiries on the status of some of the cases and withdrawals at that time. 'The significant age of their charge was a factor.' Article content
