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

Constant readers may recall that a few weeks ago I had a comment or two to make about the Ghiz government’s diversion of $1 million from something called the Rural Action Plan Island Community Fund, to construct something or other on the Charlottetown side of the bridge across Charlottetown Harbour.
This was a fund from which non-profit sponsors would get money only after that project was “... examined through a rural lens.”
The government’s own document explaining the fund and its purposes went on to explain, “That means that everything that government does, everything that government considers will take into account, the impact on local communities.”
I suggested that meant the fund was not intended for projects undertaken in the City of Charlottetown, and especially projects that involved outdoor rock concerts.
So one day recently my telephone rang. On the other end of the line was His Eminence Ronald MacKinley (aka “Roundabout Ronnie”), Minister of Fisheries, Agriculture and Rural Development, calling to straighten me out on my interpretation of what money was zipped from what account to another to accomplish the funding.
It was all because of the rink that burned down in Wellington, said the minister.
I struggled to make the connection between the Wellington rink and an outdoor concert site and parking lot in Charlottetown, and ultimately asked that someone in his office email me the details.
And so someone did.
Kim Devine, Minister MacKinley’s communications person, sent me the government explanation a few days later.
And here is what the email said.
When money was being sought to re-build the Wellington rink (aka the Evangeline Recreation Centre), “The only way the federal government could participate as a funding partner ... was through the Build(ing) Canada Fund.”
That’s an $8.8 billion pot of money set aside by our friendly federal government to help provinces create, “a stronger economy, a cleaner environment and strong and prosperous communities.”
The Communities Component (CC) of that fund is a one billion dollar allocation to assist communities with populations under 100,000. It is focussed on projects “... that meet environmental, economic and quality of life objectives.”
According to the government web page, “The program has funded more than 1,400 smaller scale projects that improve water, wastewater, public transit, local roads and other types of community infrastructure.”
I’m not sure in what category the Evangeline Recreation Centre fell, but when the Ghiz government sought money to re-build the rink in Wellington, they discovered the one billion dollar pot was empty.
Nothing there. Nada. All spent, or committed.
As it turned out, $1 million of that commitment had already been allocated to finance something described in Ms Devine’s email to me as an “events centre in Charlottetown.”
So the provincial government talked the federal government into switching that $1 million from “the events centre in Charlottetown” to re-build the rink in Wellington, then added one million more in provincial funds.
And so it was that the Evangeline Recreation Centre opened late last year.
See, you can’t just call it a “rink” anymore. Not elegant enough. Such projects must now be designated a “recreation centre” or a “wellness centre” to pry open the federal financial coffers.
But now the “ events centre “ in Charlottetown was short the money required to build it.
Not to worry, the Charlottetown Area Development Corporation (CADC), a creature of Charlottetown and the provincial government, simply got the Ghiz government to use money from the Rural Action Plan Island Community Fund to replace the now missing federal contribution from the Building Canada Fund.
Then the federal government laundered a matching million through ACOA to complete the budget for the “events centre.”
Everything hunky-dory?
People ... are you still with me? I think I am getting a headache just now, or else we are contemplating a bureaucratic version of that sidewalk scammers’ switcheroo game of guessing which pod hides the pea.
(Actually, I was forced to take an afternoon off to go smelt spearing on the ice of Summerside Harbour with my friend Elmer Williams in order to restore my mental equilibrium. Very tasty, those smelts were when I fried them up. Thank you Elmer.)
Ms Devine’s explanatory email also includes the following, “Although the focus of the Island Community Fund is rural, all municipalities and not-for-profit organizations across PEI - urban and rural - are eligible for funding.”
That doesn’t quite square with the vision set forth in government print for the Rural Action Plan, to whit, “A prosperous, vibrant and healthy rural Prince Edward Island ... that means that everything government does, everything that government considers will take into account the impact on rural communities.”
One more thing.
I asked Ms Devine to describe for me what an events centre consists of, and what events are contemplated to take place there.
She responded “... the events centre hasn’t been officially announced. The province is waiting for a joint announcement with the federal government before it releases further details of the project.”
So there you have it - democracy at work.
We aren’t allowed to know how and why the three levels of government are spending our money, and for what purpose.
Funny kind of way to run a democracy!
That’s the view from here.