PEIThe P.E.I. government is looking for a “new model” to appoint people to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, as well as other boards and agencies reporting to the province.Appointment of candidates to IRAC has often been criticizedCody MacKay · CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2025 9:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Following question period Tuesday, Premier Rob Lantz told CBC News the candidate selection process for IRAC — and government boards and agencies that report to the province, in general — should be more transparent. (Rick Gibbs/CBC)The P.E.I. government is looking for a “new model” to appoint people to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, along with other boards and agencies reporting to the province.In response to a question from Opposition Leader Hal Perry about IRAC leadership during question period in the P.E.I. Legislature Tuesday, Premier Rob Lantz said a process is underway now to change how people are appointed.”Will you take responsibility for the appointments and directions that your government has given IRAC and commit to an independent review to restore public confidence?” Perry asked.”We’re always looking at ways to make sure the public has confidence in our public institutions, and I can say actually right now that we are looking at a new model for how appointments are made to IRAC,” Lantz responded. “That is something that’s underway right now and we’ll bring that forward at the appropriate time, but it’s an ongoing process of reviewing all of our public institutions to make sure that they’re serving the public well.” That’s just a good, responsible, transparent way to conduct business- Premier Rob LantzRight now the Lieutenant Governor makes appointments to IRAC based on recommendations from cabinet.Critics of IRAC have questioned who gets appointed to the commission over the years.A senior staff member in Premier Pat Binns’s office was appointed the CEO of IRAC in the 2000s. Under the next premier, Robert Ghiz, several former Liberal Party candidates were given positions at the commission.The current chair and CEO of IRAC, Pamela Williams, was the former chief of staff to Premier Dennis King. Kerri Carpenter, the vice-chair of IRAC, is a former PC committee member.Both have contributed thousands of dollars to the Progressive Conservative Party over the years, according to yearly political party contributions data from Elections P.E.I.Their appointments predate Lantz’s time as premier.’People would like to know how those appointments are made’Following question period Tuesday, Lantz told CBC News the candidate selection process for IRAC — and government boards and agencies that report to the province in general — should be more transparent.”People would like to know how those appointments are made, I think they’d like to see some transparency and accountability about how it’s made,” Lantz said, adding government has done a “jurisdictional scan” to see what processes are like in other provinces.”That’s just a good, responsible, transparent way to conduct business.”Critics of IRAC have raised questions about who gets appointed to the commission over the years. (Ken Linton/CBC)Regarding past appointments and politics around it, Lantz said “it’s hard not to be politically connected in some way” on P.E.I., due to how small the province is.But Lantz said some people are appointed without a process, and having competition would lead to better appointing processes.”These are things we’re constantly looking at. Improving our processes, improving the way we appoint people, improving the way we employ people,” he said.”It was following a discussion about transparency and accountability of this government, I’m just giving examples of the things that we’re doing, the things that we’re always working on, the ways we’re always trying to improve.”There’s no specific timeline for when a new process would be in place.ABOUT THE AUTHORCody MacKay is a writer, editor and producer for CBC News on Prince Edward Island. From Summerside, he’s a UPEI history and Carleton masters of journalism grad who joined CBC P.E.I. in 2017. You can reach him at cody.mackay@cbc.ca
P.E.I. government looking at ways to make appointment process to IRAC more transparent, premier says
