They are not yet even announced, but already plans for 2014 celebrations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the meetings of 1864 are a whipping boy for government waste.
It began with a leaked draft document in The Guardian, which outlined a potential $75 million year long celebration. The province and the federal government would each throw in $30 million, with the City of Charlottetown and corporate sponsors each chiming in $7.5 million. Funding would be spread over three years.
Potential events range from a Montreal-Toronto hockey game, mega concert and inanely a return to the Island of Cirque du Soleil (did no one think of the million dollars we lost the last time they showed up?)
The opposition immediately jumped on the price tag and attacked. The mayor of Souris used the ‘party in Charlottetown’ as a comparison to government’s broken promise on a new K-12 school.
Powerful stuff.

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 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 Kings County Baseball League opened its 22nd season last Saturday evening in Stratford.
Josh Kirkpatrick pitched a complete game as the Stratford Murphy Pharmacy had a 9-3 win over the Morell Chevies. Marshall Ellis and Andrew MacNevin homered for the Pharmacy while Shawn MacDougall had three hits and a pair of RBIs. Craig Lawlor took the loss and Desi Doyle had two hits for the Chevies
Sunday afternoon in Peakes, the Bombers began their defense of the KCBL championship with a solid 12-4 beating of the Northside Brewers. Joseph Gardiner had the big bat with a pair of home runs and five RBIs. Stephen Birt, with a three run blast, and Grant MacEwan also homered for the winning Bombers. Robbie Phelan pitched well in earning the win. Jason MacLean absorbed the loss and Mitchell Ryan homered in a losing cause for the Brewers.

Kudos to the 2012 Grade 12 students from Montague High School for putting their personal mark on their graduation celebrations.
This year the majority of the students said "no" to a prom, which for the past few years has been poorly attended anyway. They have opted instead to hold a banquet.
As the ogre in the movie Shrek says to his friend the mule, "change is good donkey." This is especially apt since the lives of this group of graduating teens who are about to say farewell to the security of grade school take their own personal paths in society.
But change, which is inevitable, can also mean, among other things, challenge. The test in this instance is to make a banquet more appealing to these young people so this new event might become a new tradition carried on by future graduates.

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.

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.

Kenny Arsenault served notice he was back in the driver’s seat last Saturday night at the ‘Charlottetown Driving Park.’ He got himself two wins on the card, including the feature with the Hardy Mills Stable’s Arabica. Trained by Anthony Stymest, with his 1:56 win, the Pro Bono Best 5 year old now owns the record for fastest mile on PEI in 2012. Arsenault I’m told had been suffering from a bad back recently, but some nasty folks think it was just depression over the fate of his Bruins that kept him off the track. At any rate the wily veteran returned in fine style. He picked up his other win with Everett Stewart’s Ebandtheboys in 2:02. Mike Stevenson also had two wins on the program, with horses owned by the Earnscliffe crew of Kevin, Barry and Trevor Doyle.

Dialysis is a life sentence. Transplants, for any number of reasons, aren't an option to the majority and the individuals who suffer from dialysis-related conditions spend years tied down by a procedure that dictates their daily routines month in and month out.
To add to their frustration and stress, cutbacks by the province will mean one more corner of the rug will be pulled out from under them if dialysis units are taken out of Alberton and Souris, two rural Island communities. This would force those using the service to drive to Charlottetown at their own expense in all kinds of weather.
Preying on the weak, those who are too ill to fight for themselves is callous to say the least. It's so heartless that people are now afraid what might happen next.
That trepidation was shared by more than 200 people who attended a meeting in Souris to discuss the closure of their hospital's dialysis unit last week.