JEERS: To the City of Charlottetown for deciding to increase parking fees in the downtown in the middle of a pandemic. Now, the city did issue a news release late Thursday afternoon announcing that the decision to increase those parking fees was being delayed until Oct. 31, but too little, too late. The delay is certainly a move in the right direction but why defer it to one of the slowest months of the year? Businesses in the downtown are trying to survive right now. A wiser decision would be to slap a moratorium on any increases for six months to a year and revisit things then.
CHEERS: To the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Charlottetown Inc. for taking a stand when the city announced it was going to increase parking fees in the downtown. The organizations reacted quickly and stood up for their members. There wouldn’t be a vibrant downtown without these businesses and creating even the slightest disincentive to park near their doors for any reason in these challenging times is downright mind-boggling.
CHEERS: To the recent news that the City of Charlottetown’s pollution control plant on Riverside Drive is now ready to receive waste from Stratford’s sewage lagoon. Testing will begin in another month and the lagoon is expected to be shut down not long after that. People in Stratford have been dealing with foul odours from that lagoon for years. It’s nice to hear the air will soon be much more welcoming.
CHEERS: To Luke Ignace for opening the Breaking Barbershop on Victoria Row in Charlottetown that will specialize in cutting hair for Black people but also one that will be welcoming to all. But it’s so much more than just cuts. This will be a place of deep and meaningful conversation; a place where connections can be made and ideas fostered. In a world that is so bitterly divisive, it’s nice to see ideas that bring people together.
JEERS: To the insurance and/or travel companies responsible for the cancelled trips at Three Oaks Senior High. Two full trips of students from the Summerside school – one to Vimy and the other to Paris – had their excursions to Europe cancelled by the Public Schools Branch last spring, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Most, if not all, of those students, had purchased travel insurance that was supposed to have seen them reimbursed if the trips were cancelled, regardless of the reason. But here we are now six months later and no cheques. The trips cost between $3,000 and $4,500 each. It is unacceptable that this has dragged on for this long and it's time the companies involved paid up.
