CHEERS AND JEERS: Cheers to everyone who voted in Cornwall-Meadowbank

Cheers to the residents of Cornwall-Meadowbank who found time to vote in the July 13 byelection. Summer votes receive notoriously low turnout as people are less engaged in the news, are on vacation or working full-tilt in the Island’s biggest industries of agriculture, fishing and tourism. Overall voter turnout for election day and the advance [...]

Cheers to the residents of Cornwall-Meadowbank who found time to vote in the July 13 byelection. Summer votes receive notoriously low turnout as people are less engaged in the news, are on vacation or working full-tilt in the Island’s biggest industries of agriculture, fishing and tourism. Overall voter turnout for election day and the advance polls leading up to it was 60.87 per cent of the 4,912 registered electors.

According to Elections P.E.I. chief electoral officer Tim Garrity said he was “very impressed with the level of voter engagement.” Jeers to those who spread misinformation on Cornwall-Meadowbank byelection night. A post on a social media page that was shared several times to candidate Robert Mitchell’s page claimed shortly after polls closed that the Liberal leader had won.

In fact, the numbers on the Elections P.E.I. website and quoted by creditable news sources, including yours truly, already showed Green candidate Tayte Willows ahead, where she remained the entire evening. Whether it was an error or an intentional trolling, those who took the post at face value and shared it around without verifying it are almost as much to blame for the confusion it caused. Jeers to the P.E.I. government and the producers of the Netflix series, This Summer Will Be Different, for reportedly not including Tyne Valley in the series.

If true, this is a major oversight for an area that could very much benefit from a cash infusion, and that is featured prominently in the Carley Fortune book on which the series is based. As a resident of the municipality, Stephanie Crocker, wrote in a recent letter to The Guardian, “Tyne Valley is central to the story and it deserves to be part of the production and part of the economic future that comes with it.” We couldn’t agree more.

Cheers to the P.E.I. groups and individuals who have devoted time this summer to make submissions to the review of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC). The review commission, led by Rory Francis, held two recent public meetings that garnered excellent participation and interest. As IRAC touches so many important aspects of Islanders’ lives and well-being, from rent control, to petroleum prices, to land, water and electricity matters, it is paramount the regulator has the people’s trust.

Right now, based on these presentations, it appears this review is very much needed. Related: Cheers to Marie Burge for a life dedicated to improving the lives of Islanders. A recent op-ed series by the P.E.I. Working Group for a Livable Income is dedicated to Burge, who is in palliative care in Charlottetown.

Among her many good works, Burge founded the group, as well as a raft of other causes, such as the Cooper Institute, Islanders for Proportional Representation and the Coalition for the Protection of P.E.I. Lands. She has been a generous contributor of opinion articles to The Guardian, including a piece in May repeating her ceaseless appeal for a basic income guarantee in Prince Edward Island. She has been a force for change and a tireless advocate for the vulnerable.

Her work will be carried on by the scores of Islanders she has influenced.