(Cindy Chant's editorial)

There’s no escaping a day that is particularly hard on single people - Valentine’s Day. Store shelves are stocked with a sea of red and pink products, including a variety of fancily wrapped boxes of chocolates just waiting to make someone’s day.

I wonder how Stephen Harper would feel, if he was just an ordinary person and government told him he wouldn’t get any Old Age Security benefits until he was 67 instead of 65.
I’m sure Harper would be pretty upset. He’d be getting on in years and he’d like a bit of a break after working 40-odd years. He might not want to have to work two additional years, time he’d never get back, just so he might have a couple of years left to enjoy what’s left of the inevitable decline.
And yet there is speculation the Harper government will raise the age people can collect their pensions from 65 to 67. That would mean Canadians approaching senior-hood who may already be struggling to make ends meet would have to struggle a little bit longer.

There shouldn’t be any question as to how much the province is willing to spend on the Souris K-12.
The initial estimates have come in around $24 million, or 20 per cent higher than what was originally budgeted. Education Minster Alan MacIsaac and cabinet should approve the extra cash.
It’s true cost over runs often make the headlines. In this case spending more would be justified despite pressure on the provincial budget.
The province didn’t have another K-12 to model, so the budget required a degree of guesswork. And if a relatively small amount of money compared to the rest of the capital budget is needed for sufficient classroom space, it should be spent.
It makes more sense to build the school properly on the first try, rather than having to expand later on.
Jonathan Charlton

As the saying goes, we’re so far behind we’re ahead.
I’m not sure where it originated from, but these days it is a saying that rings true as we struggle to find ways to be a greener, yet still productive society. It’s no secret if we stay on the consumption path we are on our resources, like water and fossil fuels, will be depleted. To harness the natural energy sources like sunlight and wind power, solar panels and windmills have become common place.

“Senator Kenny on the national stage right now is accusing me of not being independent. That’s not true at all. I’m very independent. I’m so independent that I’m not going to sort of weigh in and discuss what laws are being considered and being passed.” - RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson, refusing to comment on Bill C-10
Methinks the commissioner doth protest too much.
The very essence of independence is being able to speak your mind freely and the head of the RCMP has a responsibility to use that freedom.
The Harper government is bent on pushing through its Neanderthal crime bill regardless of the protests of legal experts and the public, just like it did with changes to the census.
The government cites anecdotal evidence that criminals are running amok despite the statistics clearly showing a low crime rate.

This is the time of year many Islanders are thinking of travelling south in the hopes of getting away from the typically chilly Atlantic Canada air (although this year has been rather unusual when it comes to seesawing temperatures).
But reports of Canadians vacationing in Mexico should really give people pause. One of the most recent incidents involved a 67-year old from British Columbia who was gunned down in a robbery. In another incident a woman who was beaten so badly she had to be put into a medically-induced coma.

(Cindy Chant editorial)

The PEI government is in the early stages of litigation against tobacco companies whose products have been sold on the Island. The Province will be seeking damages for the recovery of health care costs from 1950 to the present. It is a foreseeable uphill climb, but it is also a fight that will not go unnoticed.

Tobacco companies for decades denied smoking was dangerous or caused cancer.

Ontario is the latest Canadian province to proceed with a lawsuit to recoup money for smoking-related illnesses. That province is seeking a whopping $50 billion in damages.Ontario officials and the Canadian Cancer Society argue a successful lawsuit could serve to reduce smoking in that province. 

 According to a recent Charlottetown Guardian article it looks like one of the Island RCMP’s two tobacco enforcement positions will be cut - all in a bid to reduce the PEI force from 140 to 135 by this spring and save as much as $600,000.