Report from the Federation of PEI Municipalities Meeting

Report on Public Transit Coalition’s Attendance at the Annual Meeting of the Federation of PEI Municipalities

When: Monday, May 1, 2006

Location: Souris Legion


Overview:
As a last minute entry into the promotional area of the Federation of PEI Municipalities meeting in Souris, the PEI Public Transit Coalition was not only able to set up a display advocating the benefits and the necessity of public transit to municipal leaders, but also briefly discuss public transit with Transportation and Public Works Minister Gail Shea and arrange a meeting with the minister at a later date. Following several exchanges with community figures and provincial cabinet ministers, the Coalition members present were imbued with a sense of guarded optimism with respect to the development of Island-wide public transit.

Description:

Having procured a spot as a display guest at the Federation of PEI Municipalities meeting only on the Friday prior to the Monday event, the Coalition rushed to devise a simple yet effective presentation to showcase our literature and our Island-wide transit designs. Set-up was to be completed by 8:30 AM at the Legion in Souris, with proceedings for the FPEIM members commencing at 9:00. The agenda for the meeting basically meant that the PTC was a spectator for much of the day, waiting for the opportunity to discuss public transit with interested municipal figures and approach several key community leaders from among our workshop participants. Two such figures, Nancy Wallace of O’Leary and Elmer Arsenault of Tignish voiced their support for proceeding with an Implementation Plan either at the local municipal level (for example, to be done in the Tignish-Alberton-O’Leary area) or on a province-wide mandate, and both were keen to be present at any formal meetings with cabinet ministers in the future.

Other delegates to the annual meeting also showed a keen interest on behalf of their communities in examining public transit in their areas. Peter Meggs, deputy Mayor for the Town of Cornwall, was able to update us on the status of the joint Cornwall-Stratford feasability study to take place and seemed optimistic that a link could be forged between the existing Charlottetown Transit and those two communities. Also, councillor Jamie MacKay of Kensington expressed an interest in having the Coalition hold a workshop in that part of the Island in order for the town council to assess the possibilities of public transit for Kensington and surrounding areas. Councillor MacKay noted that the bus service which once linked Charlottetown with Kensington had been eliminated in favour of a Summerside-only bus stop on the off-island SMT/Acadian Lines run, and he hoped that some type of affordable service could be established to help Kensington maintain its transportation links to the capital as well as to Summerside and points in between.
Finally, Chairperson Matt McGuire of Tyne Valley was also quite receptive to our queries about linking that region with Lennox Island and Summerside-Tignish-Alberton-O’Leary through public transit.

The afternoon session featured guest speaker Gordon Steeves, Vice President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Winnipeg city councillor, as well as an address by Premier Pat Binns. For the Coalition, perhaps the most productive part of the day was the mentioning in her address of public transit by Transportation and Public Works Minister Gail Shea, a positive change in position from non-inclusion in discussions to referring to the issue in an important public speech. Afterwards, David and Aaron had the chance to press Minister Shea about her commitment to public transit and were able to arrange a “long” meeting with her for the near future. David also had the chance to speak with Provincial Treasurer Mitch Murphy, who agreed wholly with David when he explained to the Minister the enormous health costs generated to the Province from motor vehicle accidents. Minister Murphy intimated that he had read the material provided to him by the Coalition in late March, a step in the right direction for the Coalition and a sign that our material had done its job, at least preliminarily.

Our part in the meeting wound up just after 5:00 PM. In all, our presence at the meeting was at the very least visible and, more notably, productive in terms of our commitment to making Island-wide transit a reality. As a result of the Federation of PEI Municipalities invitation, the PEI Public Transit Coalition will be approaching Minister Gail Shea about the prospects for moving ahead with province-wide public transit, and in conjunction with a number of community leaders who showed their support our mission, we can now go ahead with a solid municipal support base and hopefully influence the debate over province-wide public transit at the levels which matter the most.