The owner of a P.E.I. trucking firm has pleaded not guilty to charges under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Jack Kelly, owner of Bulk Carriers Ltd. and the former mayor of Cornwall, P.E.I., and Mike Schutt are charged with misrepresentation and counselling to misrepresent.

The pleas were entered Wednesday in a Charlottetown court.

The charges stem from an investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency into offences that are alleged to have taken place between March and July 2008.

Authorities have declined to specify the nature of the offences, but the charges carry a maximum fine of $50,000 or two years in prison.

A five-day trial is set to begin in June in Charlottetown.