Public meeting on re-localizing P.E.I. economy

Islanders are being invited to sessions this week that will explore how to keep dollars generated in P.E.I. from leaking out of the province.

The Centre for Local Prosperity, a non-profit organization based in Atlantic Canada, will be holding meetings open to the public today and Friday this week at the Charlottetown Farm Centre.

A study released by the centre showed that 44 per cent of the dollars generated in P.E.I.’s economy leaks away to somewhere else.

The sessions, called “Expanding Community Wealth: Relocalizing Strong Economies for Prince Edward Island,” will explore an economic development strategy to keep those dollars in P.E.I. by re-directing government spending to more local sources through “import replacement”.

For example, that could involve hospitals, schools and other groups sourcing food through local producers instead of importing it.

The centre is the first organization in Canada to begin deploying the “Preston model” used in several areas of England for economic revitalization and is in the process of establishing several pilot regions across Atlantic Canada.

The Charlottetown sessions will include a town hall style discussion, 7-9 p.m., called “Localizing procurement power from institutions: proven to plug leaks in the economy.”

A morning strategy development session will explore import replacement from 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday.

More information is available by emailing the centre at info@centreforlocalprosperity.ca or the Institute for Bioregional Studies at ibs_pei@yahoo.com.