FREDERICTON – The New Brunswick government is conducting an internal review on the guest lists of government-owned Larry’s Gulch Lodge and whether a list was altered.
The review comes after an internal ethics probe by Brunswick News Inc. alleged that one of their senior editors visited the government-owned fishing lodge and another editor tried to cover it up, according to Brunswick News’ ombudswoman Patricia Graham.
Graham alleges the two editors tried to have a deputy minister of communications in former premier David Alward’s government change the guest list before releasing it to the media.
The editor was invited in 2013, at which time Tory MLA Trevor Holder was Tourism Minister.
“I feel very confident in the fact that we were the first government to ever formalize a process for the release for the names around Larry’s Gulch,” Holder said Tuesday.
“I have no idea how that happened. Or that it even did happen.”
The current government is doing their own internal review to see if the Larry’s Gulch guest list was altered.
The infamous lodge is in Northern New Brunswick and sits along the Restigouche River. It’s been known to host corporate and political leaders from all over.
But the lodge has also been used by private groups, making the province an estimated $280,000 in 2014-15.
NDP leader Dominic Cardy says the fishing escape isn’t worth it, and should be sold.
“Too often in New Brunswick, public office is about giving perks to your friends, giving perks to those in your political party and spending time in nice places. New Brunswick can’t afford that,” he said.
“We need to end these controversies and close down Larry’s Gulch. Let’s sell it off as quickly as we can even if we can’t get the best possible price for it.”
But the province asserts the lodge has a value.
“We want to use this place for specific goals which is to make sure that we use this place for economic development and to strengthen economic relations with other governments,” said Serge Rousselle, the province’s auditor general.
The province hasn’t responded on how much hosting guests at the lodge has cost taxpayers.
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