Trial ordered in Shediac campground land lease controversy

A Court of Queen's Bench judge has ordered a trial be held regarding a controversial proposed campground in Shediac.

Health Minister Victor Boudreau, who is theMLAfor Shediac-Beaubassin-Cap-Pel,and his business partners want to lease landfrom the Anglican Parish for their 750-site project, which would become the largest campground in the region.

But in 2007, the parish rented about11 hectares of land to Dave Maltais, the owner of Oceanic Campground, which included an agreement that the parish would not lease any adjacent land to another campground operator withoutMaltais' consent.

The entrance of Oceanic is about 1.3 km from the proposed site, so the parish had asked the court to rule on the meaning of "adjacent" in the lease.

Judge wants more information

Justice Jean-Paul Ouellettedid not making a ruling, saying he needs more information.

But he did quote froma court case dating back to 1904that found adjacent is not a word to which a precise and uniform meaning is attached by ordinary usage.

It is not confined to places adjoining and it includes places close to or near, that court ruled.

In addition, the court said what degree of proximity would justify the application of the word is entirely a question of circumstances.

Ouellette said he needs to hear all of the facts in the Shediac case and hear from witnesses in order to make a proper decision.

No trial date has been set.

Boudreaus campground was given approval from Shediac town council in April.

The campground, which would be located on the wooded land between Parlee Beach Provincial Parkand the road toPointe-du-Chne, has sparked numerous complaints.

Conflict of interest review ongoing

Boudreau is also facing a conflict of interest complaint.

Marie-Paule Martin, who owns Camping Beausjour,alleges private campground owners in the region shared proprietary information about their businesses with Boudreau in May, 2013, when he was an opposition MLA.

The conflict commissioner's office declined to comment on the matter on Thursday, saying it does not discuss the status of any investigation until a report is tabled in the legislature.

Boudreau declared his business interest in the campground in his most recent public disclosure statement filed with the commissioner on Feb. 18, 2014.

When Boudreau was sworn in as a cabinet minister last fall, he said he would set up a blind trust for his stake in the campground business to comply with the province's conflict of interest law.

A blind trust involves delegating all decisions about the business to a trustee,and not talking to that person about those decisions.

Boudreaualso said he would recuse himself from any cabinet discussions about policies or laws affecting his campground business.