JEERS:
To the federal government for taking seven or so years to reopen Charlottetown’s immigration office. Granted, the office was closed by the Conservative Party of Canada and thenimmigration minister Jason Kenney. But this Liberal government has been in power since late 2015, and it should have reopened the office sooner. Federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen announced on March 6 that the Charlottetown office was reopening. And on Thursday, Hussen was back in Charlottetown for the official reopening ceremony with Charlottetown Liberal MP Sean Casey by his side. Let’s be clear. Reopening the office is a good thing and long overdue. But was it necessary to further inconvenience newcomers by waiting another five months to reopen the office? It’s fair to point out the timing of Thursday’s event as the latest in a series of federal Liberal announcements leading up to the October election.
CHEERS:
To the City of Charlottetown and MBS, the operators of CFCY and Q93 radio stations, for co-hosting the Mayor’s Old Home Week Kick-off BBQ 2019. The green space in front of the radio station at 9 Prince St. was a lovely spot to enjoy a hot dog, a cold drink, some music and bouncy castles for the kids. Nice to see so many visitors and locals of all ages enjoying what has become an August tradition.
CHEERS:
To the City of Charlottetown’s protective and emergency services committee for deciding against enforcing metered parking to 6 p.m. Their reasoning makes sense. Many of those who work in the downtown are gone by 4 p.m., if not 5 p.m. What it would have done is target tourists who pour into the downtown after a day at the beach to have a bite of supper or go to a show. And, most tourists are putting money in the meters anyway because, well, the meters say parking is enforced to 6 p.m. Mayor Philip Brown is right, it makes more sense to do this in the spring and fall when the target should be all-day parkers. However, the deputy police chief doesn’t want the commissionaires out at a time of the year when it isn’t light outside. No sense in putting their safety at risk for a few extra quarters.
CHEERS:
To the Charlottetown Downtown Residents Association for speaking out positively about the upcoming two-day concert at Confederation Landing Park. It goes without saying that all concerts, regardless of size, should be held at the Charlottetown Event Grounds. And, the city has identified that changes have to be made to the event grounds in order to make it viable to hold smaller shows on the large open site. In the meantime, Judy Gallant with the residents’ group says it makes more sense working with the partners, like the city and the police department, rather than assume the worst case scenarios as was the case for years. This looks like a good family-friendly event and with an adequate police presence, things should go relatively smoothly.
