VOTERS TALK ISSUES
Housing tops the list of concerns in Charlottetown, but transit, traffic also weighing on local residents
Charlottetown voters speak about issues as municipal election nears
For Edna Smith, the smile she received from a negligent driver has cemented in her head the most important issue in Charlottetown’s coming municipal election.
Not long ago, Smith said she came close to a serious traffic accident on Allen Street. She said a driver pulled out directly in front of her as she was driving past the Mission Thrift Store. She said the driver was looking right at her, and even smiled before pulling in front of her car.
“If I had been going faster, we’d have been T-boned,” Smith said. “We need to do something about the enforcement of traffic laws.”
The Parkdale resident is like many Charlottetown voters. Interviewed while shopping at the Allen Street Sobeys, she said she sympathized with residents who have raised the lack of affordable housing as a top issue facing Charlottetown voters.
But she said other issues, such as rampant speeding and drivers who run stop signs, are a bigger priority in her mind.
The Guardian spoke to several residents on Friday to gauge the most important issues emerging in the Nov. 5 municipal election. Many did raise the increasing cost of rents and the dwindling supply of rental properties.
But issues around transportation and transit also emerged as at top-of-mind issues for many residents.
Sudip Tamang did not take much prompting to name his top issue.
“The bus schedule!” Tamang said, flanked by his friends Roman Hossein and Anand Karki.
The three are international students attending Holland College. They can’t vote, but they said that living and working in the city is a serious challenge because of the off-peak scheduling of Charlottetown buses.
Hossein said the hours he works at Walmart often do not match his hours on Sundays. The bus system does not do pick-ups or drop-offs past 5:30 p.m. on Sundays.
“I usually take a cab. Sometimes I walk, sometimes a cab. It’s really expensive,” Hossain said.
“As an international student, we pay significantly more money than Canadian students. Our fees are around $4,000 and we pay more than $3,000 in international fees,” he said, referring to the higher tuition rates paid by international students.
Jie Cheng, who attends UPEI, is also an international student. Reached during his shift at the food court in the Confederation Court Mall, he said housing prices are “crazy right now.” But he also said transit issues need to be addressed in Charlottetown.
He said the scheduling was often limited and made it difficult for him to travel from his apartment in Browns Court to his job downtown.
“It’s kind of inconvenient,” he said.
The issue of transit improvements has been all but absent in the two mayoral debates this week. Mayoral candidate Kim Devine was the only candidate to mention transit during The Guardian’s mayoral debate on Wednesday, but did so only in passing.
Other residents interviewed by The Guardian raised issues of housing affordability, homelessness and regulation of short-term rentals.
Barry Gass said the lack of affordable housing for seniors has burdened him personally. The retired designer said he was forced to sell his own home and move into a rental property in order to afford his own living costs as a retiree. He said he has attempted to get on a waiting list for seniors housing but was told waiting lists have as many as 800900 people on them.
He said he has no intention of voting during the city election.
“I don’t imagine they will do much about it,” he said.
UPEI associate professor Richard Raiswell, reached as he was leaving Timothy’s World Café on Great George Street, said he was concerned about the lack of regulation of short-term rental sites like Airbnb.
“The house next door to us, a big old heritage property is being sold and turned into an Airbnb,” he said.
“This is happening across the city more and more. It’s taking away from long-term rentals and some fairly well-established old people.”
Raiswell said he is hoping to see new faces make their way into council chambers come November.
“I’m looking forward to more diversity on council,” he said.