Congratulations to the 27 elected members of our next Legislative Assembly.

ISLAND VOTES 2023

Our Next Assembly

Unofficial Results (Elections PEI)

IN THIS ISSUE

➡️ New waste to energy facility planned for Charlottetown

➡️ Porter adding flights to planned Ottawa route

➡️ No One's Fool boosts breakfast program

QUICK HITS

🛩️ More Porter: Porter Airlines is boosting capacity to its planned daily service between Charlottetown and Ottawa. The new daily flight was announced in February with service taking flight on May 17. Last week the airline responded to demand by announcing that the route will now launch with 11 weekly flights, then increase again to twice daily beginning June 24. Departures from Charlottetown will be mid-morning and around the supper hour.

🎣 Angling licences now available: Here’s a sure sign of spring – Islanders can now buy an Angling licence for the upcoming recreational fishing season, set to open on April 15. The licence covers recreational fishing of brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, white perch and Atlantic salmon. The daily limit for white perch has been reduced from 100 to 25 this year. The Angling Resources and Information Centre website has been updated with all the must-know details. 

🥊 Chef Battles: Two food battles are set to begin in Charlottetown this spring. First on the menu is Burger Battle, running between April 13 to April 23. Chefs from over 30 Charlottetown-area restaurants will put their creations in the ring to compete against the rest. Islanders will have the final say through an online voting system. After the dust has settled, a Taco Battle will begin. Following the same concept, Chefs will send their taco warriors to battle between May 4 to May 13, leaving it all on the line once again for Islanders to choose the victor.

PLANNING BOARD

Plan for new waste to energy facility

A 15m (50 ft) smoke stack is missing from this rendering of a proposed waste to energy facility in Charlottetown.

A new waste to energy facility in Charlottetown could become a new fixture in the city’s skyline. From groundlevel to the top of the smoke stack, the facility would reach 50 metres in height. For context, that’s the equivalent of a 16 storey building. The St. Dunstan's Basilica steeples go up 61 metres. The two Maritime Electric smoke stacks, planned to soon be demolished, are between 60 and 70 metres.

The proposed facility will boost the system’s capacity to handle 46,000 tonnes of burnable waste from 26,000 tonnes, that’s about 90 per cent of the total burnable waste thrown out by Islanders; waste that is currently going to landfill.

The waste to energy facility was ahead of its time when constructed by the province in 1981. Upgrades and expansions over the years have built the now privately-owned district heating system into a city-wide service that supplies thermal energy to over 145 buildings through an 18 km hot water distribution system.

The project has received an environmental impact assessment approval through the province. With that approval, the project would be exempt from the current moratorium on shoreline development that was issued on December 1.

At the city level, a site-specific exemption to zoning rules is required due to the height of the building and the location and height of the smoke stack. The exemption process will trigger a public meeting. Planning Board members voted to send the project up to council with the recommendation that it proceed to public consultation.

📢 SHOUT-OUTS 

🚲 To 72-year-old Jan Meulenkamp on cycling 40,075km (distance around the world) in 3.5 years, finishing last week. Your cycle pals are proud of you!

🪧 To the 119 candidates who had the conviction to put their name on a ballot and their many volunteers, democracy wouldn’t work without people like you. Thank you!

🗳️ To Elections PEI staff for their hard work, professionalism and dedication. The amount of work you all do in so little time is impressive.

Island Edition Shout-Outs are paid messages. Buy one to help support the sustainability of this newsletter. Max three-per-issue, 30 word limit.

COMMUNITY

No One's Fool nets $8k for breakfast programs

Co-authors Bill Hogg and Sam MacPhail with Ron MacKinley.

Longtime politician Ron MacKinley used to joke that one day they’d write a book about him. Not only was he right, the book also turned out to be a local success.

Ron MacKinley: No One's Fool, co-authored by Sam MacPhail and Bill Hogg, hit book stands last October. The goal from the onset of their project was for proceeds from sales of the self-published book to be donated back to the community.

About 1,000 copies have been sold so far. Good to their word, MacPhail and Hogg donated $8,000 in profits to the Bluefield Family of Schools breakfast programs last week. 

The book is still available for purchase at Bookmark Charlottetown, Indigo, or on Amazon. Proceeds will continue to go to school breakfast programs.

COMMUNITY CORNER

🤝 The Prince Edward Island Career Fair and Training Expo takes place this afternoon (Wednesday) at the Delta Prince Edward from 1 - 4 PM. Meet face-to-face with hiring managers. Tip: bring copies of your updated resume. You got this! 💪

🧵 Over 130 Etsy vendors will be set up this Saturday at the Atlantic Spring Market at the Delta Prince Edward. The market is open from 10 - 5PM. Admission is $6 or $20 for a group of four. Check out this Facebook event listing for full details.

🐇 The Rural Municipality of Hunter River is hosting an Easter Eggstravaganza at 10AM this Saturday. That pesky Easter Bunny left treats scattered throughout Dr. Kent G. Ellis Heritage Park. Bring a bag or basket to hold your treats.

🦺 The Workers Compensation Board will welcome Linda Duxbury from the Sprott School of Business as the keynote speaker of this year’s Workplace Health and Safety Conference. Participants will be challenged to define disruptive change, and to think about the major disruptions they are likely to face in the next few years. The conference takes place at the Delta Prince Edward on April 20. The deadline to register is April 13.

Send a quick message if your organization would like to publish a short PSA. There's no charge for these.

#PEIslandEdition

Almost looks like Summer 🏖️

Okay, this doesn't look anything like summer, but I bet you can picture it. Apurva Patel captured this drone shot of Panmure Island for his exploringpei Instagram page. Apurva has been hitting the skies quite a bit, I love his work!

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

WEATHER

Wednesday

☁️ H -1°C 🌡️ L -6°C 
💨 NNW 19 km/h, gusting 44

Thursday

🌧️ H 4°C 🌡️ L 2°C
💨 SE 17 km/h, gusting 46

Island Edition Storm Watch

👀 Just a heads up that Environment Canada says we could get a few centimeters of snow this evening into Thursday morning. There was chatter of freezing rain being possible overnight.

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