Storm cleanups and signs of spring 🌦️

IN THIS ISSUE

➡️ North River Road master plan

➡️ Helpful election links

➡️ Change your clocks (and batteries)

QUICK HITS

🚧 North River Road Master Plan: Charlottetown is seeking help to identify the necessary upgrades required for North River Road in thenext 5-10 years. Last week, the city released a tender for the creation of a comprehensive master plan for a section of the busy corridor between Capital Drive and McGill Avenue. The plan will include options for upgrading road infrastructure, active transportation, transit infrastructure, stormwater management, and overhead utilities. The master plan, along with conceptual illustrations, should be ready this fall.

🚧 YYG to YHM: Swoop has announced that it will resume flights between Charlottetown and Hamilton in late May, running until early September. Starting late May, the airline will offer service on Sundays and Thursdays. A third flight will be added mid-June, this one on Tuesdays. Last month Porter Airlines announced a daily flight between Charlottetown and Ottawa beginning in May, WestJet will offer a direct flight to Edmonton starting in June.

ISLAND VOTES 2023

Fixed election date be damned, Premier Dennis King made the necessary moves this week to send Islanders to the polls six months ahead of schedule –  the law says an election shall be held on the first Monday in October every four years. So now that the election has been called, here’s everything you need to know to stay on top of it all.

📍Election Map: Elections PEI introduced a new web feature that's super handy. Enter your civic address to receive basically everything you need to know: polling dates/times, locations, and a list of nominated candidates in your district.

🗓️ Key Dates: You're going to hear a bunch of different dates over the next few weeks; here are the key dates with links to related information:

Mon, April 3: Election day, polls are open from 9AM to 7PM.

Tue, March 21: Applications for a mail-in ballot must be received by Elections PEI by 6PM on this day.

Fri, March 17: Deadline for candidate nominations.

🗳️ Advance Polls: If April 3rd doesn’t work for you, three advance polls will be held prior to election day: 1️⃣ Sat, March 25; 2️⃣ Mon, March 27; and 3️⃣ Fri, March 31 from 9AM to 7PM.

📝 Voter Registration: As a reminder, Elections PEI will not be going door-to-door to update voter registration information. Island households were mailed a yellow card last month. If you have not received one by now, then you should visit the Elections PEI website to update your voter information, or give them a call: 1-888-234-8683.

Island Votes 2023 will appear each week to help keep you informed as we head toward election day. No opinions, just links to helpful information.

SPRING FORWARD

Daylight Savings Time

🕑 Daylight Savings Time begins this Sunday, March 12 at 2:00AM. Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead by one hour.

Tip: If you’re like me, you’ll spend the first few minutes on Sunday scrambling to figure out if your devices updated automatically. I end up searching “current time” on Google, which returns the correct time. 👍

Change Your Batteries!

🪫 Do your family a favour and test your smoke, fire and carbon monoxide detectors this weekend. These detectors save more lives than most people realize, even here at home. The National Fire Protection Association provides some good information that covers most typical detectors.

📢 SHOUT-OUTS 

⛷️ To the 3,600 athletes from across Canada who participated in 20 different sports during the 2023 Canada Games. A special shout out to our Team PEI; we may not win all the medals, but I bet our sportsmanship is topnotch.

💪 To the 5,000 volunteers who made the 2023 Canada Games possible.

👥 To the 65 staff of the host society who assembled and worked hard to deliver a great experience for our young athletes.

#PEIslandEdition

Approaching YYG ✈

Melanie Chang captured this photo as she was piloting a Cessna 172 toward Charlottetown Airport. The 19-year-old commercial pilot shares photos from her flights around the Maritimes and Quebec as she levels up her training and career. Check out @pilotmelanie_ on Instagram to follow along.

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

COMMUNITY CORNER

🚺 On March 8th, the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women will be hosting an in-person celebration for International Women's Day titled "Every Woman Counts." The event will take place from 3:00 - 5:00PM in the Rotary Auditorium of the Charlottetown Library and Learning Centre. More information can be found on this Facebook event listing.

💰 Stratford is seeking feedback on the town’s draft budget for 2023-24. A copy of the draft can be found on this page, along with a video presentation. Feedback is being accepted until March 14.

📝 Also in Stratford, the town’s annual resident survey is now online. Each year Stratford uses this tool to gauge public opinion on a variety of topics. Feedback from the survey helps guide council and staff.

Send a quick message if your organization would like to publish a quick PSA. There's no charge for these. Max three per-issue.

WEATHER

Wednesday

☁️ H2°C 🌡️ L -3°C 
💨 N 32 km/h, gusting 57

Thursday

🌤️ H2°C 🌡️ L -6°C
💨 N 28 km/h, gusting 61

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