Organizers said that 500 individuals from communities across the province sent a message of “rural strong” during a rally held in the province’s capital on Islander Day.
The event saw individuals waving signs and chanting “we are rural, we are strong” while marching from Peakes Quay up Queen Street. Speeches were then held outside of Province House.
“We are no longer separate communities. We are rural strong and we have found one voice,” said Janet Payne of Kinkora.
Organizers said that 500 individuals from communities across the province sent a message of “rural strong” during a rally held in the province’s capital on Islander Day.
The event saw individuals waving signs and chanting “we are rural, we are strong” while marching from Peakes Quay up Queen Street. Speeches were then held outside of Province House.
“We are no longer separate communities. We are rural strong and we have found one voice,” said Janet Payne of Kinkora.
Although the rally was organized largely by parents from Georgetown Elementary Home and School Association and spurred by the possible closure of five P.E.I. schools, the event didn’t focus solely on education.
Speakers said that rural P.E.I. communities are being ignored by the government on other issues such as health care while the province centralizes services to Charlottetown.
Alan MacPhee, of the Islandwide Hospital Access Committee, said rural Islanders deserve better services than what they now receive.
“We are rural strong and the myth is government supports rural areas with taxes and jobs. That myth is not true, what we do know is true is rural gives much more in taxes than it takes in services,” said MacPhee. “We’re here today to say rural schools are not closing, rural hospitals are not closing and rural communities are not closing.”
Former Souris schoolteacher Fred Cheverie said he could see many similarities between the levels of education and health care in rural communities.
“We see the argument used for closing small schools as economic, we heard the same argument in trying to cut services and eliminate hospitals,” said Cheverie, who felt that the end goal is centralization of services rather than saving money. “What they’re talking about in money is peanuts. It’s nothing and it’s ridiculous to use that argument.”
Part of the rally’s message was also that “all of P.E.I.” is rural, with several speakers pointing towards the province’s reliance on the agriculture, fishing and tourism sectors.
“(Those living) in our municipal communities have come from roots in the country side and therefore reflects the norms, standards and values that we learned in our rural upbringing,” said Georgetown resident Brian Pound. “And that makes us all rural strong.”
Stacy Toms, a small business owner and volunteer with Georgetown Home and School Association, conveyed a similar message.
“P.E.I. is a special place but it remains small and rural. Despite what Charlottetown and Summerside think, there is no rural-urban divide. It’s all rural,” said Toms. “We should remember that when government pits one against the other. We are all rural Islanders who live on a very small Island. We’re an intricately linked cultural, familial and economic unit.”
