In correspondence dated August 18, 2025, Catherine Fowler stated that Enactus Canada did not believe its communications claimed the UPEI team “invented” potato soap and that it found no evidence the students deliberately attempted to mislead judges.
There are three subtle inconsistencies between the Fowler statement, the UPEI media release, and the international media headline (“first soap made from discarded potatoes”).
August 18, 2025
Catherine Fowler provides written clarification that Enactus Canada does not believe it stated or implied the students invented potato soap.
Spring–Summer 2025
Multiple media outlets publish stories describing the student project led by Maggie McNeil and Samuel Harding.
One international publication, Argenpapa, runs the headline:
“Innovations: The first soap made from discarded potatoes.”
February 2026
An editor’s note is added to a UPEI media release acknowledging that potato-based soap production had previously been commercialized on Prince Edward Island only after concerns were formally raised with UPEI and Enactus Canada.
The concern raised in this documentation is not related to intent, but rather to how public communications and media coverage may have shaped perceptions of novelty surrounding the project.
Note of Interest: Samuel Harding's online profile states "I'm a born and raised Islander and I've lived in Stanley Bridge my entire life." The Island Potato Soap Company operated in Hope River, approximately one mile from Stanley Bridge. Joan Harding from Stanley Bridge, a possible relative, sold Island Potato Soap at the Stanley Bridge Farmers Market for several years.
