Summer officially begins! ☀️

IN THIS ISSUE

➡️ City is looking for a big loan

➡️ Reducing red tape for tradespeople

➡️ In-picture: countdown to summer

QUICK HITS

🧑‍⚕️ New medical roles: Two new medical roles have been introduced to the Island’s healthcare system through recent regulatory changes. Physician assistants and associate physicians can now practice in the province under the direct supervision of a licensed medical doctor. Based on their level of training, physician assistants will be able to complete physical exams, administer vaccines, set or cast a fracture, gather patient history, develop treatment plans, assist in surgery, to name a few tasks. Foreign-trained physicians who have completed post-graduate training will be able to apply for a license as an associate physician.

👮 Abduction at gunpoint: Mounties in Kings County arrested a man Tuesday after he abducted a 9-year-old child at gunpoint. Police were dispatched to a residence in Eglington after a 911 caller reported an altercation. Police say they learned of the abduction after arriving on scene. An Amber Alert was issued around 4:30AM. The suspect and child were located at a residence in Souris. The child was unharmed and the Amber Alert ended just before 7AM. Police have not released any information on what charges the man might face.

💸 Spare some change? Check under your mattress, Charlottetown is looking for a loan. In order to meet borrowing requirements for the city’s 2023-24 capital budget, a tender was posted recently to find a new lender. In total, the city is looking to borrow $50M on a 25- or 30-year term. This new loan will push the city’s debt somewhere around $145M. 

This is a bit silly, but here's what the city’s financial situation look like using emojis. Each emoji represents $10M.

Budgets: 🏛️🏛️🏛️🏛️🏛️🏛️🏛️🏛️🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨

Net Debt:  🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑💰💰💰💰💰

🏛️ = operating budget / 🔨 = capital budget / 🤑 = existing long-term debt / 💰 = debt from this new loan

RED TAPE

Update: Tradespeople without borders

The Atlantic provinces have entered into an agreement to enhance economic growth and competitiveness for the region by harmonizing technical safety requirements for regulated tradespeople. The objective is to simplify cross-jurisdictional work opportunities and generate cost savings for the industry.

To achieve this harmonization, each trade license will undergo a review process involving all four provinces. Legislative and regulatory changes will need to be made by each province for trades identified in the agreement. Once the changes are in effect, companies operating in the technical trades sector will only need to purchase and train their staff on a single edition of each code to operate across all four Atlantic provinces.

In PEI, the changes will apply to: 

🔥 LP Gas Personnel (338)

⚡ Electrical Contractors (280)

🚽 Plumbing Contractors (100)

🛗 Elevator Contractors (2)

🛗 Elevator Installers (10)

🧑‍🔧 Power Engineers (First, Second, Third, and Fourth Class - 287)

I asked when these changes would come into effect, a spokesperson with the province said an exact timeline has not been determined as the work involved will likely be extensive.

Copy to share the story:

https://islandedition.ca/read/tradespeople-without-borders

📢 SHOUT-OUTS 

🎓 To all the high school grads will now start writing the next chapter of their lives. If you’re wondering what to do next: we need doctors, urban planners and skilled tradespeople.

⌛ To Kings County’s Abe Waterman for recently taking home second place (and $4,000 USD) at the Hampton Beach Sand Sculpting Classic in New Hampshire. Waterman’s sculpture, “Dave Is Here," was a tribute to a fellow sculptor who lost his battle with mental illness.

WHAT'S GOING ON?

36th Annual Bluegrass Festival

The 36th Annual PEI Bluegrass & Old Time Music Festival will be held at the Dundas Fairgrounds from July 7 to July 9. Below is a list of performers set to hit the stage. Visit the festival's website for band bios, performance times, and to purchase tickets.

📍 Local / 🍁 Regional / 🗽 USA

The Lineup

📍 Blue Zone

📍 Bluegrass Revival

📍 Bluestreak

📍 Heartfelt Bluegrass

📍 Janet McGarry

📍 Just Grass

📍 SK Bluegrass

📍 The Stiff Family

🍁 Bluegrass Tradition

🍁 Blueroad

🍁 The Oxbow Mountain Boys

🍁 Third Harmony

🗽 High Fidelity

🗽 The Tommy Webb Band

#PEIslandEdition

The countdown to summer 📅

Lot 16’s Robert Gamble has been posting a daily picture to his Twitter profile counting down the days to summer. I’ve been following along since January, so it seemed fitting that this week’s featured photo be one of Robert’s first summer 2023 pictures.

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

COMMUNITY CORNER

🌻 Honibe (Island Abbey Foods) is welcoming summer with a free flower giveaway this Saturday, June 24, in celebration of International Pollinator Week. If you want a flower, bee one of the first 500 vehicles to visit their drive-thru at 20 Innovation Way, Charlottetown, from 9:00AM until supplies run out.

🪄 Stop by The Haviland Club this Saturday, June 24, for the PEI Witch Market. There’ll be local vendors, tarot card reading, and even an opportunity to connect with the spirit world. Admission is free. Doors are open from 11AM to 8PM. Check out this Facebook event listing for a full list of vendors.

💃 DiverseCity Festival 2023 kicks off this Sunday, June 25, along Queen Street in downtown Charlottetown from noon until 8PM. Come out to celebrate our diverse community. Admission is free, but it’s a good idea to bring a few bucks so you grab some delicious treats. The next stop for the festival will be Alberton on July 9.

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

WEATHER

Wednesday

🌤️ H 25°C 🌡️ L 14°C 
💨 SW 14 km/h, gusting 26

Thursday

🌤️ H 26°C 🌡️ L 13°C
💨 WSW 20 km/h, gusting 43

Looking Ahead

👀 The rest of the week looks great (if you like warmer weather), but gloomy clouds likely return this weekend with some showers, possibly a thunderstorm Saturday. As long as it ain't snowin', amIright?

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