Good morning, PEI.

  ISLAND BRIEFS 

• Ferry service between Wood Islands and Caribou resumed this morning after service was suspended Friday following a fire on the MV Holiday Island. The revised ferry schedule can be found here.

• The city has signed a new partnership agreement with the Charlottetown Islanders to cover the period of 2022-2027.

• Of the 1,021 vehicles registered on PEI in the first three months of this year, 31 of them were electric (3.03 per cent). For comparison, there were 33 electric vehicles registered here in all of 2019.

QUICK HITS

Kent Street lighting: A project to brighten up a portion of Kent Street between Great George and Prince streets will be moving ahead. Council approved $415,000 for the project, which is expected to take shape soon. The project was originally approved by council last year, but faced an uncertain future after concerns were raised that the string lights could hamper the fire department's ability to raise ladders. A compromise was reached, and a revised project was submitted for approval. The plan now will see string lights strung over the street between new lamp posts. Originally the lights were going to be strung off of buildings.

Two DUIs in one day: RCMP in Kings County arrested a 64-year-old man for impaired driving twice in one day. Police received a complaint last Saturday around noon of a possible impaired driver behind the wheel of a transport truck. Police located the driver, who failed roadside screening. He was arrested and later released, only to be arrested a few hours later behind the wheel of a farm tractor, still drunk. Both vehicles were impounded, and the man spent the night in jail. He will appear in court on July 28. Terrifying.

Local passport office: Ottawa will announce the opening of a passport office for PEI in the coming weeks. Karina Gould, the minister responsible for Service Canada, told CBC Island Morning that it's not fair for Islanders to have to travel off Island to visit a passport office. Details are still being worked out, Gould told the public broadcaster, but said an official announcement will be made soon.

#IslandEdition

Cape Tryon Lighthouse 🌊

Devon Bernard shared this dramatic photo of the Cape Tryon lighthouse on the north shore to his Instagram account, @visualsofdev . Head on over to his Instagram, he has some spectacular shots of our Island.

Tag @PEIslandEdition or use #IslandEdition to get your post featured in Island Edition!

ANTIQUATED LIQUOR LAW

ALCOHOL IN PARKS NOT ANYTIME SOON

It's unlikely that Islanders will be able to enjoy a cold one at their favourite park anytime soon.

Back in 2020, CBC reported that the province was considering the possibility of loosening rules around drinking alcohol in public areas. At least one downtown bar and restaurant owner floated the idea as a way to help food service businesses impacted during COVID-19 restrictions. The idea was that restaurants could deliver picnics, including alcohol, to people in parks. The province and the city were receptive to the idea at the time, and both said they were open to discussions.

But since that time, COVID-19 restrictions have all but vanished, and it seems the political will to make such a change has vanished, too.

Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown told me that the city looked at the idea at the committee level, but nothing was ever brought to council for consideration. Brown suggested that because restaurant operations are now in full swing, the business community is no longer interested in seeing the law changed.

For the province's part, it said that all options to further modernize legislation and regulations remain on the table, including changes to open container laws, but that more consultation with stakeholder groups, municipalities and local enforcement groups would need to be completed.

In the meantime, for anyone wanting to risk it, the fine for consuming alcohol in a public place ranges from $200 to $800.

ELECTRIC TRANSIT

Land purchase: Charlottetown will spend $2.95M to acquire the Trius Transit and Coach Atlantic bus depot facility and land on Mount Edward Road. Council approved the purchase at a special meeting Monday evening. Under the resolution approved by council, the city will lease the facilities back to Trius Transit and Coach Atlantic for their continued use of the existing facilities. The land is being purchased from Northumberland Ventures Ltd., which is a company owned by Mike Cassidy, the private operator of the city's transit system. The money was allocated in the 2022-23 capital budget.

Transit hub: The purchase of the land is one component of a larger project to transition the city's transit fleet to all-electric. Now that the land purchase is in place, the city plans to construct a hub for the city's future electric bus fleet. The new hub will include charging infrastructure, a building to store and service the electric buses, solar power generation, and battery storage.

Funding agreement: Council also approved a resolution to submit a funding application to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program to help cover the cost of the transit electrification project. The total project, not including the land purchase, is expected to cost $21.6M.

But first, more diesel: But before electric transit buses start humming around the capital region, citizens will need to hold their breath a bit longer. A portion of the funding will cover the purchase of five used diesel buses at a cost of $625,000. The city's current fleet of buses, which were already between 7 to 9 years old when the city purchased them in 2015, are starting to show their age and need to be replaced. Rather than purchase brand new diesel buses, which have a lifespan of 15 years, the city plans to use these used buses to bridge the gap between now and when the electric fleet is ready to roll sometime around 2026. The goal is to have fewer diesel buses in the fleet for a shorter period of time.

UPDATE ON SHERWOOD SCHOOL

The province broke ground last week on a replacement school for Sherwood Elementary. In news reports, the province was calling the building net-zero ready, but did not elaborate beyond that. I contacted the Department of Education for a clarification:

"The building, as designed and tendered, currently includes 100kW of solar panels and the necessary infrastructure to accept additional solar panels in the future. The currently planned 100kW of solar panels when the school opens in 2024 will offset 25 per cent of the anticipated energy load."

WHAT'S GOING ON? 

Wednesday

🎥 Peace by Chocolate @ City Cinema / 7:00PM: A Syrian refugee struggles to settle into his new home in Antigonish, NS, caught between his dream to become a doctor and preserving his family's chocolate-making legacy. Buy tickets | Watch Trailer

🎶 Danalee Lynch and Steve Perry @ Olde Dublin Pub / 7:30PM

Thursday

🎥 Peace by Chocolate @ City Cinema / 7:00PM: A Syrian refugee struggles to settle into his new home in Antigonish, NS, caught between his dream to become a doctor and preserving his family's chocolate-making legacy. Buy tickets | Watch Trailer

🎶 Vintage 2.0 @ Olde Dublin Pub / 8:00PM

🎵 Logan Richard @ Trailside Music Hall / 8:00PM / Buy tickets

🤔 Entertainment Trivia / 9:00 PM: Join host Darcy Campbell at Hunter's Ale House, 185 Kent Street, for some entertainment trivia.

👋 Do you have an upcoming event you'd like to promote through Island Edition? Fill out this form to get the process started.

WEATHER

Wednesday

🌤️ H27°C 🌡️ L16°C 
💨 WSW 15 km/h, gusting 37

Thursday

🌤️ H26°C 🌡️ L18°C
💨 NW 6 km/h, gusting 19

THANKS FOR READING!