Premier Dennis King, I am contacting you out of concern about your recent announcement allowing non-resident cottage/land owners to apply to come to P.E.I.
First, let me make clear that I am an Islander. I was born, educated and worked here my entire life. I have been retired for 15 years, and truly enjoy the quality of life and natural surroundings that P.E.I. has to offer. That being said, I understand why non-residents enjoy spending time on our Island … there is no better place to be in the summer months.
To this point in time I think that Dr. Heather Morrison and yourself have done an excellent job in guiding Islanders through this COVID-19 crisis. I also realize that many types of businesses are facing difficult situations, but I also think that the process of slowly trying to return to some type of new normal will take some time and needs to be done in the multi-steps that have been promoted by Dr. Morrison and yourself.
I strongly disagree with opening up access for non-residents at this time. I am curious how this decision was reached. I was surprised, and I think the premier of New Brunswick was also caught off guard.
I think the other issue that needs support, is more visible promotion of "staycations" … enticing Islanders to explore more of their Island, from tip to tip.
I understand that the Canada/USA border will remain closed at least until the end of June, thus that is a non-issue for now. It is also my understanding that the majority of non-residents who would most likely be applying to come to P.E.I. would originate from Ontario or Quebec. This really concerns me, when you look at the new cases in both of these provinces … Ontario having 400+ a day and Quebec numbers also climbing with almost 600 new cases on Monday, May 25. So, this means that between Ontario and Quebec there are approximately 900 to 1,000 new cases per day.
With that many of new cases, I don’t see how it is possible to adequately screen and followup with these non-residents, after their arrival and during the course of their 14-day self-isolation. I don’t think follow-up phone calls will adequately verify that they are isolating … especially since the majority would be using cellphones. I think it needs to be an actual person knocking on their door to verify they "are where they are supposed to be and they are who they say they are". We have all heard the stories of people arriving and not going directly to where they are supposed to be. I do think the policing will be an issue.
I think we have been the envy of the rest of Canada, and we have come so far, that we should not drop the ball at this point in time.
I am asking you, Dr. Morrison and your team to re-consider this decision.
Niall Coulson is a lifelong Islander and a retired forage technologist with the Agriculture Canada Research Centre in Charlottetown who lives in Sherwood.
