Auditor general asked to look into Holman Grand

P.E.I. NDP Leader Mike Redmond has written to the acting provincial auditor general Jane MacAdam asking her to review the province's financial involvement in the Holman Grand Hotel.

There have been conflicting reports about the government's dealings in the failed hotel and much confusion in the public, said Redmond, and Islanders deserve to know all the details. He feels a review by the auditor general's office would provide some clarity.

"Given the complexity of this file and reported millions of dollars involved, it would be very much in the public interest to determine how public monies have been used on this project," said Redmond.

Redmond says you would have to be a "Philadelphia lawyer" to follow all the financial complexities associated with the hotel's financing.

The province has put up more than $16 million in loans for the hotel, including holding the first mortgage. The Holman Grand was caught up in the financial restructuring of Homburg Invest when it was put under creditor protection in September 2011, just weeks after it opened.

The court-appointed monitor, Deloitte-Touche, shut down the operation of the hotel in November 2012.