Being heard
Summerside woman, who hitchhiked to Charlottetown for Prime Minister’s visit, continues protest locally
Ivy Inkpen didn’t take the easy road to see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
As she stood outside the Montague Curling Club last week, Inkpen said she hitchhiked from Summerside to Montague and stayed behind the town’s welcome centre overnight where she made posters for her morning protest.
One of those posters said, “Help me save a child.” Inkpen said she was there to get Trudeau to commit to more funding for mental health supports for children in P.E.I. She said she also wanted Trudeau to hold the provincial government accountable for money it gets from the federal government.
“We need help now,” she said. While Inkpen was outside, several hundred people crowded into the curling club for a meet-and-greet with Trudeau during his first public appearance of the day.
The prime minister worked his way through a crowd that closed in around him, shaking hands and stopping to take pictures with people as they held up cameras or phones. There was no announcement, but Trudeau briefly addressed the crowd before stepping down from a platform to shake more hands and pose for more pictures on his way out of the room. Back outside, Inkpen told reporters she was tired of empty promises from the provincial government.
“I want action now,” she said. Inkpen has since continued her one-woman protests. She has been spending time with her sign at various high-traffic locations around Summerside.
She said she will continue her protests until she gets a meeting with Premier Wade MacLauchlan and Health Minister Robert Henderson to discuss child mental health services on the Island.
She said anyone willing to assist her in her efforts can contact her at 1-250-200-0595.