Why Is Pei A Province ?

[Craig Read]

Given the current socio-political and economic reality of Canada why is PEI - a large farm in the St. Lawrence with a shocking population of 300.000 farmers a province ?

Why isn't Toronto then a City State ? Or Calgary ? Why isn't the Okanagan Valley a province ? Or perhaps Hamilton ?

How can one explain the absurdity of shoveling money, projects and political pork to 300.000 farmers on a small island ?

Sure Ann of Green Gabels was a groovy chick, but PEI should have another status - not a co-Province with Provincial powers and worst - unending pork.

[westcoast99]

History. When PEI joined Canada in 1870, it had a significant portion of the population, and definitely more than Toronto, and the then non-existant city of Calgary.

While the rest of the country grew tremendously in population, PEI did not. Which, while not beneficial to the Island, is not grounds for stripping them of their provincial status.

I believe there is a requirement of 100,000 people to have provincial status. If 30,000 Islanders leave, maybe they would be reverted to territorial status? I don't know.

Edited August 11, 2015 by Gugsy

[Craig Read]

The problem is that 130.000 people apparently receive largesse from the rest of Canada due to their provincial status - from a bygone era.

How can one defend a small farming community's ability to act on the Federal scene as a co-equal when its population is less than the Oshawa region's and its economy smaller than a large neighbourhood in Toronto ?

This is over politicisation at its worst.

The problem is Confederation - in short a new deal is needed and PEI should be recognised for what it is - an insignificant island with some golf courses.

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear Mr. Read,

P.E.I has some of the best darned spuds in the country.

The also receive way less in the form of largesse that does Newfoundland or the First Nations. I don't subscribe to any notion of 're-zoning' any of them. I think you'll find no support amongst Canadians on the P.E.I thing.

[Boydfish]

I understand your frustration with PEI, which is really little more than a municipality with delusions of grandeur, being an "equal" province of the Canadian confederation.

The problem is that you can't really expect that the people of PEI are going to accept anything that will "demote" them; nor will any province want to create any kind of mechanism for the Canadians to do that to them. Do you really think that the other seven provinces won't be afraid that the Canadians will then consider the benefits of "de-provincializing" every other province save Ontario and Quebec? They'd have "Ontario", "Quebec" and "Revenue Sources"

I'm rather doubtful that any rework of the Canadian confederation would be workable, at least in the sense that the Canadians won't give up the required domination over the rest of the confederation, but my personal suggestion for PEI in the context of a reworked confederation would be that it PEI be designated as the seat of government for the confederation. In other words, like our Australian brothers and our USAmerican cousins, we'd have an area of the confederation that is not part of any of the confederating nations.

It's not a perfect solution by any stretch, but it does fix some pretty major problems, like that nations like BC which have numerous municipalities that are larger both in area and population than PEI won't resent it quite as much and that the people on PEI won't feel like they're giving up much.

[Craig Read]

Well i think the resentment is already there.

I live in Toronto and we export $20 billion a year in taxes to the rest of the country, work longer hours, put up with high traffic congestion and a crumbling infrastructure and ever higher taxes - and we watch pork project get thrown to PEI, and other areas of the country that should support themselves.

If PEI is a province, Oshawa should be a city state - after all Oshawa has the GM plant and its economic size is at least as large as PEI's total economy.

Re-confederation is necessary - too many anachronisms exist in the 21rst century that are legacies of 19th century thought.

I do agree that the Potato farmers on Ann's little island will not like being told what is reality - namely that their large farm is not a significant part of Canada's political or economic system.

But so be it. The fact that PEI carries such clout on the national stage with its shriveled economy and population necessitates change.

[Craig Read]

and i should have added that fully 40 % of PEI's revenue comes from transfers !!!

This is sad and must end.

[Craig Read]

Why not just sell PEI off to some investors and pocket the change.

The islanders can stay or float around - who cares - as long as they are no longer a province.

Why is this farcical piece of island farmland allowed to assume Great Power status ?

[Pellaken]

why is ontario a province?

[RB]

or maybe they can use some grassroots economics such as in "Ithaca dollars"

system operates just as barter, hours are set at a min. wage $10 and paid in trade services and goods

you can only see a multiplier at work

money is kept locally, social structure is enhanced, honest labor, no big corporate culprits, mostly cooperation etc.

this system actually works in NY so

you can't loose PEI

[Craig Read]

PEI is a farce.

A large farm is all it is.

Ontario runs the country, funds it and is the economic locus of the country Pellakan if you did not notice.

PEI receives 40 % of its revenue from transfers from Ontario and Calgary.

Either clean up your act in PEI or we should have the right to sell it as property and recoup some of our investments.

It is after all our money. If you can't sustain yourselves too bloody bad. And also stop sending your people here to look for work. If PEI is so great I would expect that there are a few patches of produce to pick or get busy with. And RB ithaca dollars are not used in NY outside of Ithaca and it is a waste of time so stop babbling nonsense. Sometimes i really have no idea what you are on about.

[Pellaken]

you did not answer my question

and for that

why is alberta a province?

worse yet, saskatchewan?, it's just lines on the map.

why does ANY political unit exist?

various reasons

why does PEI exist?

tradition

THAT's the answer.

topic over, the end.

[Craig Read]

Brilliant discourse Pellaken utter genius.

Yes Man and Saskabush should not be provinces, they were created for political reasons.

However both those provinces dwarf in importance the Farmland of PEI - a little island that cannot sustain itself.

Jurisdictions are necessary to promote civil governance. Canada has simply too much of it. Too many levels, too many politicians and burdensome amount of bureaucratic gibbons scampering on the landscape.

There should be 1 Eastern Cdn Province.

And this entity should not sustain itself on handouts from Toronto.

If you want political autonomy, want respect, want to build up a society that means something, stop depending on handouts.

Or like I said, we in Toronto should reserve the right to sell your little island and reclaim our investment.

[Pellaken]

when canada was founded, it was us sending transfer payments to you!

hopefully, once we get an NDP government here on PEI, we can get the economey moving, and we wont need transfers anymore.

as for who should and should not be a province, I submit that it is ontario that should be 2 provinces, not the east that should be one.

[Craig Read]

Come on Pell be honest. You know in your heart that a large farm cannot be a province.

PEI cannot survive without handouts. It is a vassal province.

There are some options that vassals always can consider:

1. Eastern amalgamation of the 4 provinces into one.

or

2. Every PEI resident becomes a personal slave of someone in Toronto. You will have to do what we say for one year. At least then we have some satisfaction of sending money your way.

or

3. We sell PEI off to real estate investors and take the profits back to Toronto.

I think we should do # 2 first, followed by one. If they fail, enact #3.

This would make everyone happy.

Or maybe we just invade and take it over.

[theWatcher]

If all the fish in that area are dead and the fishing industry is wiped out......

Why not turn it into a landfill site for the country?

We could double the size of the island in less than 5 years.

Or take over the little islands that France owns in that area and it could be a collection of islands. At least it owuld have a large surface area.

[Craig Read]

True the Islanders have some potato crop and not much else.

Maybe the Japanese might want to buy it and turn it into a large Ann of Green Gables theme park.

In any event there is plenty to do with the property instead of just giving funny talking Islanders more money to waste.

[Pellaken]

if you want the PEI government to stop wasting money, then there is a simple soulition.

tell your friends on the island to vote for the Island New Democrats, and to vote for me, in district 11.

we will spend money in hospitals and schools, rather then the golf courses that are currently the norm.

[Craig Read]

That a boy Pell, let's see you will stimulate PEI by:

-Raising taxes

-Asking the Feds for more money

-Spending more money

-Making sure all 100.000 people are well taken care of

-Holding tree hugging and cry baby sessions and counseling with all citizens

Excellent. That will really stimulate the economy.

How about each Islander comes to Toronto for one year as a personal slave of the TaxPayer that is paying hard earned dollars for their existence ?

This might be called 're-education' into the real world.

Have to leave your baseball hats and potato accents at home I am afraid, the Clampetts comedy routine does not work in the big city.

[Craig Read]

I also forget to add the PEI should repay back to Toronto the debts incurred on its behalf.

[Cameron]

Craig - You seem very right-wing. I take it you vote for the Alliance or you put "Rebublican" at the bottom of the ballot and check that off Ok, ok no more personal hits, I know I will get a beating from you now...

PEI only owes $1.1 billion in debt, that's not that bad. Compared to some other provences' (NS! $10b).

[Craig Read]

$1.1 billion for 100.000 people = a lot. That means you owe $100 K per PERSON just on your Provincial debt. Add in the Federal debt and you are finished.

Please write us a cheque before you die to cover your debts.

In fact you as a group are technically bankrupt. Your total liabilities are far in excess of your assets. Without funds from Toronto you do not survive.

I think we should sell the island and pocket the dollars to pay off our investment.

Why do we need PEI ? Potatoes ? Who cares. Ann of Green Gables. Who cares. Golf Courses ? Plenty around here. Nice beaches. Bah who cares. Lobsters ? Ugly damn creatures with no meat.

PEI is the welfare capital of Canada.

Let's shut it down.

[Cameron]

Craig, you know that we are not going to sell PEI. Who the hell would buy it. PEI is where confederation started in Canada...Don't you have any feelings towards PEI, other than negative? Who knows what the final solution is for us Maritimers, maybe we will have to join forces and form a 4 province gov't to compete on a international and national level.

[Craig Read]

Well i have no feelings if they survive off Toronto's money. My feelings get worn thin as more of my dollars disappear into various programs.

I would LOVE to see the East combine, rise up and become what they have the potential to be - an economic, and social locus of power and wealth creation.

However, current policies and political borders need to change.

The question is - can the East really change ?