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Eastern Graphic Columns and Opinions

Prevention is always cheaper

Canadians are getting closer and closer to being saddled with enormous debt as the bill C10 makes its way through parliament.
The crime bill, which includes changes to many different parts of the Criminal Code has had a lot of opposition from many different parties that will be affected by the changes. Initially the tough on crime path the bill is promoting was compared, by The Toronto Star, with the system in the US and that report showed a flawed US system where there are overflowing prisons and a huge lack of rehabilitation.

Souris has a history of survival

It's a gut wrenching feeling that too many residents in the Town of Souris have felt before.
The local fish plant, a major employer in the seaside community of just over 1,000 people shut down close to one year ago and the Newfoundland-based company has no plans to re-open it.
The consequences? Employment Insurance benefits are running out and some of the people who have worked in the plant for decades are looking down that proverbial tunnel but regrettably the light at the end of it appears to have gone out.
Some are now forced to squeeze pennies because there are is no prospect of a regular pay cheque in the future. And in the wake of their misfortune are the businesses who depend on those people's financial support.
It doesn't make the current situation look any brighter but this isn't the first time Souris folks have come face to face with the gloom and doom of a bleak future.

Give the education elite a big fat F

Barak Obama used soaring rhetoric and his presidential bully pulpit, the State of the Union address, to fire a shot across the bow of educators everywhere. In front of an audience of tens of millions the president did what few elected politicians dare. He urged a renewed focus on subjects such as the arts and pleaded with educators to ‘stop teaching to the test.’
He was referring to a growing epidemic of reliance on standardized tests. There is precious little independent evidence to support the notion they actually improve the education of our children. Standardized tests do offer the education bureaucracy a buffer zone from accountability and sap precious financial resources from the classroom.
Obama could very well have been talking to Prince Edward Island. Only our problems run much deeper than a love affair with standardized tests.

Oh, the cockamamie ideas rolling around the head of our prime minister Stephen Harper

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity” ... George Orwell

There’s an awful lot I don’t know.
I can’t tell you how many times a week the Lady Barbara asks me a question, and I say to her, “I don’t know.”
There seems to be so much going on that doesn’t make any sense.
Especially in politics.
Like, why is it that so many Americans are backing the looney and disgraced Newt Gingrinch as the Republican nominee to run against Barack Obama in the forthcoming presidential elections?
Or, why does the Ghiz government want to rip up acres and acres of peaceful PEI farmland so big trucks can drive faster to Charlottetown (when driving faster tends to provoke more accidents) just to save maybe 10 minutes of travel time?

Travel can be risky business

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.

The bill’s the thing

“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.

Clean windshields and chickadees with headaches

It’s been years since I had really clean windows on my car on a regular basis. For me, clean car windows went out when self serve gas stations became the norm. Watching a service station attendant carefully clean the windshield while he or she pumped gas is a luxury I miss. However, not only have most full serve gas stations been replaced by self serve, but unfortunately, many rural ones have disappeared altogether.
Some things never change. One of them is the hope that gardeners harbour what this is going to be the best year yet. So how can we make this garden year remarkable? Last week we mentioned this is a good time to round up recyclable containers for starting you seeds indoors. Next we’ll look at potting mix. Don’t scrimp and save on this component of your project because cheap potting mixes will usually result in poor plants.

O’Brien Awards had an Atlantic Canada flavour

Well it wasn’t the outcome many had hoped for at the Standardbred Canada awards show named in honour of native Islander Joe O’Brien. Still, it was a pretty good night for Atlantic Canada connections. No, Marc Campbell didn’t win the O’Brien for Horsemanship Saturday evening in Mississauga, but I’m sure the loss was tempered by the great year the Orwell native had. It’s pretty hard to beat becoming Atlantic Canada’s leading driver at age 27, recording 174 driving wins, 54 as a trainer and setting a new all time record of 119 victories in the bike at the ‘Charlottetown Driving Park’. I’m sure Marc also appreciates that coming second to a veteran like Keith Clark is no bad thing. Other O’Brien moments with a regional flavour, included the Driver of the Year award to Jody Jamieson (of the Windsor, Nova Scotia Jamiesons) and the wins by his father Carl and partners of the 2 year old and 3-year-old colt pacer awards.

Some Islanders may have been had

The time tested tradition of extending a hand in friendship may have turned on some Islanders. They may in fact feel bamboozled rather than gratified for good deeds offered to a group of strangers over the past couple of years.
The story starts innocently enough. A family of four from Alberta claiming to be living under the open skies because they are homeless attracted the attention of a CTV reporter last week. Cameras rolled and the public as expected responded with sympathy and support.
The ending should have been a happy one. But the family, who turn out to be Kevin and Candace Green asked that their last names not made public in the TV news report.
No reason was given for the strange request and the tinkling of alarm bells were barely audible.

Band-Aids won’t solve rural issues

The fact the Ghiz government is now finally admitting the former Ocean Choice fish plant will not reopen in Souris is of little comfort to the 300 employees facing termination of unemployment benefits in a matter of weeks.
The admission should come as no surprise. There is no doubting the Ghiz government hoped the plant would reopen. Hope doesn’t create jobs or sell product. The reality of the fishing industry spoke differently. It’s a reality the hollow words that elected Liberal politicians ignored for the past year.

Government's shell game boggles the mind

Not to enlighten one who can be enlightened is to waste a man; to enlighten one who cannot be enlightened is to waste words. The intelligent man neither wastes his man or his words.” ... Confucius

There's nothing romantic about the death of farms

If you ever needed a definition of folk music, you could find it at Kings County Playhouse Thursday night.
And if you ever wanted to know just why that form of music is popular you’d find it there too.
Seven songwriters took turns performing a couple songs each in a very simple and intimate setup. It felt more like a professional coffee house than a normal concert.
The songs talked about love for the most part, but also spoke to rural ideals.
A house in the woods isn’t just nice for the scenery, it’s a place to start a more fulfilling life. To encounter a homeless man is to be inspired by his hospitality.
And, in what drew some of the loudest applause of the night, the disappearance of family farms is more than modern agricultural economics at work.
For many people there’s a profound aesthetic value to small family farms that’s independent of how profitable they are.

Schools shouldn't pick one religion over another

A number of Island schools have allowed Gideon Bibles to be handed out to Grade 5 students for many years now. However, one parent’s recent complaint makes you wonder about the appropriateness of religious proselytizing in the schools, in this day and age.
The gesture, to spread the Good News to students (with parents’ permission) is probably harmless, but public schools are not the place to preach just one faction of religion above all others. And as good-hearted as the Gideon people are, this is in fact a form of religious superiority. Children from all walks of life attend school, but not everyone believes in what the Gideon people believe - and not everyone believes in tenants of the Christian faith. At the very least some may not appreciate a religious group trying to “influence” their children.

Music awards showing off their broader Island roots

For one week a year here on the Island it’s all about the music. Music PEI Week, a seven-day celebration of all genres of music accumulating with a gala award night, wrapped up on Saturday. While in the past the events all took place in Charlottetown, this year things happened a little differently. Two main events were held in venues outside the city.
Georgetown’s King’s Playhouse was host to a song writers circle and Summerside had the Music Mosaic ceremony at the Harbourfront Theatre. Though this is something new to the event, let’s hope it’s not a one-time thing. It showcases venues across the Island that are so well equipped to handle the performances. Spreading the events around gives all Islanders easier access to not only performances, but also a peek into the music industry. And if the awards are any indication, the industry has grown significantly over the years.

It’s time to start thinking about ordering those seeds

he bird wasn’t close enough for me to make a positive identification but this much I could determine - it had soaring down pat. It was a huge bird, drifting effortlessly on the breeze, usually gliding forward but it interested me to see that sometimes it drifted in reverse. It was no higher up than twice the height of the trees along the road. I’m confident that although I couldn’t see it well enough to make a positive identification, that my soaring feathered friend could see quite plainly what was going at ground level.

Documentaries capture Islanders’ connection to horses and racing

The folks at Reargear Productions have just released their great documentary on Old Home Week called Exhibition Drive. It’s simply a fantastic presentation of what harness racing means to the people of PEI and their participation in it. It may be the best depiction of what the sport is all about. I have ever seen and I’ve seen many. Set around Old Home Week 2011 and the Gold Cup & Saucer - once watched you’ll never wonder again why the Island is called the Kentucky of Canada. Jason Arsenault, Director/Producer and Jeremy Larter, Producer, have truly captured the essence of our love affair with horses and why we are so gripped by the traditions of Old Home Week. Watching it, you’re going to see lots of familiar faces and places. The guys have not only done harness racing a great service they’ve done the same for our history.

Dropping the ball on island teens

The province's decision to close the purse strings on the study of student drug use and addiction is an injustice not only to young people who participate in it but to parents and caregivers across the Island.
It's sad when the wellbeing of young peoples' futures is influenced by dollars and cents.
This isn't just a study of young drug users, it also covers the purchase of lottery tickets and even sex among teenagers.
An Eastern Graphic story from last summer shows the number of suspensions among students at Montague High School had risen dramatically over the previous three years and the school had the highest rate in the Eastern School District.
If it needs to be spelled out to the people in control of the study's financing this means Montague High isn't the only school that is dealing with the issue.

Forget health care, Liberals are at the trough

In the dying days of the October 3 provincial election Premier Robert Ghiz needed to buy votes in Tignish. He promised a ‘minimum’ $50,000 annual investment in the Tignish Health Co-op, which struggles to raise money to simply maintain the building.
The co-op is the only facility of its kind in the province that must finance its own operations and the premier’s promise gave the impression of immediacy. He offered no inclination that the necessary cash infusion would be caught up in a budgetary maze.
That is exactly what happened after the Liberals were returned to office. Suddenly the premier’s promise became far less specific. Now the $50,000 is simply another potential line item fighting for survival in what is guaranteed to be a brutal spring budget.
The Tignish Health Co-op will have to wait.
Health care providers must wait.
Residents of West Prince must wait.

Golden Fly outshines harper

“ If a man is right, he can’t be too radical; if he is wrong, he can’t be too conservative.” ... American Humourist Henry Wheeler Shaw

The waters are calm - sigh

The monthly Eastern School Board meetings take on a much different tone now that there isn’t an elected school board.
Ever since then-Education Minister Doug Currie fired the dysfunctional school board back in February 2011, a typical school board meeting consists of appointed trustee Patsy MacLean chairing the meeting while Eastern School District Superintendent Ricky Hood and district staff provide information and updates on various activities and initiatives. And then Ms MacLean adjourns the meeting.
It’s a far cry from the waning days of the elected school board, when personality disagreements were exposed like an open wound for everyone to see. The calmer atmosphere would no doubt please educators who attend the meetings in the hopes of learning something.