No voice at the table

P.E.I. dropped by Bank of Canada board for the first time

With a population about the same as Oshawa, one of Ontario’s smaller cities, there are many in Canada who don’t think Prince Edward Island should be a province. But, given history, and the constitution there is nothing they can do about it.

What they can do, and frequently attempt to do, is ignore the fact the Island is a province. All too often we have seen maps of Canada without the province included on them, or unnamed even if there’s an outline of the Island drawn on them.

None of which is very serious. More serious is when the federal government is determining who is going to be represented on the plethora of crown corporations and other federal institutions and agencies.

If viewed simply as a region of fewer than 160,000 people why should P.E.I. be given any more consideration than say the Niagara peninsula of Ontario, southern Alberta or eastern Quebec? But when viewed as one of the 10 provinces, it’s a different question. Provinces should be equal.

For most federal crown corporations and institutions there is no mandated requirement for provincial representation on their boards. And for the most part, Prince Edward Island isn’t represented.

As an example, the board of Canada Post has four members from Ontario, but two of them have very strong ties to Nova Scotia, while British Columbia and Quebec each have two members. Alberta and Newfoundland have a member each. They were all presumably, chosen for their business experience and acumen. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and P.E.I. aren’t represented.

In the past, the Island was occasionally represented on national institutions, like the National Library Board or Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, but not very often.

Up until recently, the one exception was the Bank of Canada. The bank has, almost since its inception in the 1930s, usually had a director from each of the provinces. It is not a rule, but it has most definitely been the convention.

But not now. Since 2018 every province is represented on the Bank of Canada board, except P.E.I. And, there are now three members from Ontario, all from Toronto.

Summerside lawyer Derek Keys was the last director of the bank from P.E.I. Interestingly, when the bank was first formed, it was a Summerside businessman, J. LeRoy Holman, who was one of the first directors.

Nine of the 14 Islanders who have sat as directors of the bank were businessmen, one was a potato farmer, one was an accountant and three were lawyers.

Among the businessmen were Noel H. DeBlois, who like Holman, was a merchant. W. R. Jenkins was a car dealer, Alfred Pickard was coal merchant and Fred Hyndman was in the insurance business, all were from Charlottetown.

Austin Scales of Freetown sold fertilizer and was a potato dealer.

Harry Fraser from Hazelbrook was a potato farmer and publisher of a newsletter on the potato industry.

The bank determines the supply of money in Canada and establishes policies to preserve the value of that money by keeping inflation low, stable and predictable.

There is no question that the appointments to the board are political, always have been. But, by and large, the Island appointments have been firstclass people with a lot to contribute.

It is an important institution and Islanders who have served on the board have played important roles. Both Charlottetown lawyer Barbara Stevenson and Fred Hyndman served on bank committees that recommended who the government should name as the new governor when the position became vacant.

Both Ms. Stevenson and Mr. Hyndman served three consecutive three-years terms on the board and had they so chosen, the present government could have extended Mr. Keys appointment for another term. But, as a known Conservative, it wouldn’t have gone down very well with the local Liberals.

In 2018, eight of the dozen provincial representative were new appointments. So why wasn’t there an Island appointment? The Island’s representative in the Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay, said he doesn’t know, but he intends to find out.