Board resigns vs. submission

We are an abiding lot, Prince Edward Islanders. More likely by upbringing than by nature, we accept rather than criticize people or things beyond our immediate concern. We suffer impositions as complacently as the weather. Things will pass we say – ‘it is what it is.’

But there is evidence our tolerant behaviour may be waning. In the last year well-organized citizen groups have vehemently and successfully opposed the closing of schools and the forced amalgamation of communities.

The paternalistic rejection of the electoral reform plebiscite was another flash point with loud discontent. The subsequent introduction of the disingenuous Election Reform Act has brought protest. Sections of the act are sure to bring a charter challenge.

In general, a disdainful attitude towards the electorate pervades the government side of the legislature, whether it be the sloughing off of nefarious PNP activities, the made-up stuff about hospital bed closures or fairy tale denials of carbon emissions.

There is gathering a cumulative effect on our perception of abuses of power that extends beyond the 24-hour news cycle.

Our tolerance came to an abrupt halt last week when the government proposed arbitrary measures, i.e. measures taken on someone’s will or pleasure, in tabling amendments to the Health Services Act. The objections came from an unlikely source; the entire board of directors of Health P.E.I. resigned rather than submit.

Don Humphrey, Souris