Moving forward
West Prince economic development plan going ahead
ALBERTON – Western P.E.I. holds great potential for ecotourism and Indigenous-led tourism opportunities, a consulting group says.
MDB Insight and MQO Research is suggesting a 50-plus kilometre stretch of sandhills, stringing from Jacques Cartier Provincial Park to Malpeque Harbour is a prime location for such initiatives.
Utilizing the sandhills and possibly even incorporating them into the National Parks system was just one of many recommendations the consultants presented in the West Prince Economic Opportunities Study it completed for the Alberton and Area Development Corporation.
The study also suggests an area of West Prince, possibly even the sandhills, could become part of a network of nationally recognized Dark Sky preserves, with the potential of attracting astronomers, night sky photographers and other visitors.
Federal and provincial officials announced seed money from taxpayers to help move a new economic strategy for West Prince forward during a press conference last week in Alberton.
The money is being channeled through Alberton and Area Development Corporation and CBDC West Prince Ventures.
West Prince Ventures will use its $80,000 contribution to hire a community navigator to work with businesses looking to bring in foreign workers, and with newcomers to help them integrate into West Prince and want to stay.
The Alberton and Area Development Corporation is receiving $259,536 to help it implement the new economic development plan over the next three to five years.
A key piece of that funding will go to hiring an individual to work with communities and community groups in determining which areas identified in the plan can be successfully implemented and to guide the overall process. “We have the money,” Egmont MP Bobby Morrissey told community leaders. “It’s the ability to have them properly structured and documented that was a key missing piece.”
Paula Foley, a director with the Alberton and Area Development Corporation, is pleased with the study.
“I think this is one that has some projects in it that are doable,” she commented.
P.E.I. Rural Development Minister Pat Murphy said he appreciates the model Tignish Initiatives has developed; having a manager and assets. He suggested he’d like to see that type of approach duplicated throughout West Prince.
The consultants were asked to look at four areas of strategic interest: aquaculture and its ability to contribute to a diversification of economic development and employment in the region; tourism development and the ability to enhance and improve assets and increase overnight stays; clean technology including wind farm development and other alternative energy sources; and postsecondary education, particularly as it pertains to Holland College’s Alberton Campus.
Foley said a steering committee, with geographical representation is being finalized and will be helping with the hiring and guiding of an economic development worker.