Federal finance minister Jim Flaherty says there is no such thing as a bad job, but then again as a federal politician he’ll never have to worry about getting any type of “good job” for the rest of his life.
The Harper government plans big changes for the EI system, which could potentially create a situation where government would force EI recipients to take jobs or lose their EI benefits.
It might seem good in theory but if some of the more vocal critics are to be believed, the changes could raise the spectre of unemployed workers being hauled away to work camps for slave wages.
At the very least, there is a fear that workers will be forced to take jobs not suited to them, or with less pay, or far away, perhaps even off-Island.

It’s rare for a case in Georgetown Court to directly affect so many people.
In total, Tim Yap pled guilty to 10 counts of fraud which included a dozen victims and totalled up to $240,000.
The money lost, while devastating, wasn’t what hurt the most. The victims and Judge Nancy Orr likely wouldn’t be shocked to hear of someone pitching a bogus business for monetary gain.
But they were shocked a friend could lie about having cancer, which strikes on PEI more than most provinces.
In her sentence, Judge Orr feared a case like this would put a chill on donations to the many benefits, dances and change jars across the Island.
A reasonable concern, but I don’t share it.
Part of having a generous nature means knowing that sometimes you’ll be taken advantage of. But you carry on, a little savvier than before.

It’s all about the spin and who better to work it than politicians? They’re crafty in focussing on what they want to say and hedging around whatever else is thrown into the mix.
With that in mind it was interesting to watch Education Minister Alan McIsaac try the spin tactic with Souris parents and supporters outside the legislature last week only to be shot down by the group. The 40 or so people who gathered to show their frustration over the promised K-12 school being downsized to a renovation would have none of his political rhetoric.
Mr McIsaac reminded the gathering that a construction committee, made up of people from the Souris community, had voted in favour of the renovation. But some members of that group soon made it clear they felt forced into the decision because the province knew all along it couldn’t build a new school for $20 million.

 The tree was probably planted in the 1940’s.  Birch trees don’t usually last this long.  Ours did.  This past weekend, it had to come down.  The core was rotting.

A very kind and generous family offered to take on the task of felling the old, but still majestic, tree.  Parents and grandparents and two amazing granddaughters – six in all – arrived on Saturday.  With ropes, harness and ladders in tow, a plan of action was struck.

 I wish the Alberton and Area Development Corporation (AADC) the best of luck reviving what used to be a thriving local landmark, Camp Kildare. The Province has passed the treasured summer haunt of countless Islanders, established in 1973 in South Kildare, to the AADC for the tidy sum of one dollar.

But that’s only a small measure of what is needed to breathe new life to a camp that used to be home for the Island’s Scouts and several other non-profit groups and the children they serve.

The provincial government expects the HST would bring in more than $25 million in revenue and an extra $39 million payment from the federal government.
It’s easy to make these calculations when you have dollar signs (and the hope of deficit reduction) dancing in front of your eyes. The problem with making those predictions is that governments forget they have to get that money from somewhere. They have to get that money from Islanders, many of whom are already under financial strain.
The Graphic recently spoke to two families who made calculations on how much extra they’d have to pay on their purchases if HST was in effect. The MacNearney family would have to shell out an extra $729.90, which is far more than the province is promising to give households with incomes less than $55,000.

An emotional night at the legislature last week had Montague Intermediate students, teachers, parents and supporters asking why they have been passed over time and time again for the once promised expansion to their school to accommodate industrial arts and music. Their attendance was to show support for a motion, put forward by Opposition Leader Olive Crane, for the government to move ahead with long delayed changes to the school.
A news release in November 2009 from the Provincial Treasury said construction would be ‘completed’ on Montague Intermediate in 2011. That didn’t happen. The project went to tender twice and was scrapped from the capital budget. Now it’s no longer called a $1.2 million expansion, but a renovation. The original promise seems to have been completely forgotten by ministers who are now putting the blame for delays back onto the school.

It was just one brief comment an anti-abortion protester made outside Province House that showed just how hopeless public discourse on the issue is fated to be.
The comment was that life starts at conception.
That protest wasn’t held in a vacuum - it comes a few weeks after Conservative Kitchener, Ontario MP Stephen Woodworth asked Parliament to debate when life begins. He argues the current definition that life begins at birth is out dated.
But any debate on the issue, a clear Trojan horse for debating abortion, or abortion itself is hopeless.
It can’t be resolved through compromise, like tax policy or other government business.
If one believes life (or in other words, the legal definition of a person) begins at conception, one believes every abortion is wrong. If one agrees with the centuries-old definition that life begins at birth, then one believes no abortion is wrong.

For some reason that escaped the vast majority of Islanders, the Ghiz government went to war against the frailest, sickest, and most vulnerable in our society - those who need dialysis. 

Fortunately, it appears the government has taken a deep breath and decided to give the issue a closer look, before dispatching dialysis patients from Western Hospital to Summerside’s Prince County Hospital and from Souris to Charlottetown, for life-saving treatments. 

When Health PEI announced the closure of Dialysis Units in Souris and Alberton Hospitals the minister said it wasn’t about saving money.
But what is it about then?
Consolidation? Getting rid of all rural services so the QEH and Prince County Hospitals can become bottlenecked at the admitting desk with everyone on PEI having to pass through for any health services they need? What will this do to wait times for services?
When it comes to health care shouldn’t it be about saving lives and giving patients quality health care? That is what these patients are getting now, so why jeopardize that?