Cheers & Jeers
CHEERS to Music P.E.I. for its five-day awards weekend and gala. Prince Edward Island’s music industry is an important aspect of our culture that can too often get taken for granted. Musicians in P.E.I. have undergone significant challenges in recent years, including gigs lost to pandemic lockdowns, cost of living increases and even weather events like the snow that postponed the songwriter of the year concert scheduled during the Music P.E.I. week. This little island province has an outsized wealth of talent deserving of celebration.
CHEERS, as well, to Music P.E.I. for its Ripple Effect initiative meant to help reduce the number of sexual assaults and the rates of genderbased violence in the music industry. Music P.E.I. held a workshop for its staff as part of the program. It also planned to hold one online alongside an organization that offers sexual violence prevention workshops. The next phase of the program will expand to onsite services at festivals and music venues. The goal of the initiative is more conversations that raise awareness about the prevalence of gender-based violence in the music industry and help put an end to incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment.
JEERS to the P.E.I. Department of Health for a staff hiring process that critics say involves more steps and a much longer timeline than neighbouring Nova Scotia. During question period March 12, Green MLA Matt Macfarlane tabled a document that included 20 or more steps between Health P.E.I., the Public Service Commission and the Department of Health before a worker is hired to fill a vacancy. Macfarlane said Nova Scotia has about seven or eight steps and can hire someone in 10 days as opposed to months in P.E.I. If this is true, it is time to go back to the drawing board for this ridiculous flowchart.
JEERS to drivers who do not pay attention to their surroundings. P.E.I. has had countless stories and opinion pieces this school year about drivers who pass school buses, putting children in danger. The inattention is also apparent at crosswalks in Island municipalities, where people like Rob Warren are fearful of crossing the streets of their own neighbourhoods. Warren told Saltwire that he wears neon clothing and watches for vehicles, yet he still has about 20 near misses a season on the crosswalk by his home. Warren, who uses an electric wheelchair, cannot jump out of the way when a driver fails to stop. It’s up to drivers to keep eyes on the road and watch for dangerous situations.
JEERS to scammers who are ramping up efforts to defraud P.E.I. residents, particularly seniors. Charlottetown Police Services reported three separate complaints of the so-called grandparents scam between Feb. 29 and March 5. In this fraud, a senior citizen receives a phone call from a panicked young person who addresses them as though the caller is a grandchild of the senior. The caller claims to be in legal trouble and needs “grandma” to wire them “bail money” and pleads with them not to tell anyone. The Canadian Association of Retired Persons has details of common scams and advice for victims of fraud on its website at carp.ca.