Ward responds to LeClair's letter

Posted April 1, 2010

I would like to respond to Gerard LeClair’s letter (dated April 1, 2010, The Guardian) entitled “Move of paint and body shop an investment, not a handout.” 

I don’t classify the government’s relocation of the paint and body shop to Tignish as a handout as Mr. Leclair has implied.  My argument is that job relocation, especially in this case, does not make good sense.  Government should focus on creating jobs in Tignish instead of moving jobs to Tignish that already exist in other rural areas.  Does it make sense to help one rural area (Tignish) by taking from another (Milton)? 

I am surprised that Minister MacKinley and Bush Dumville have remained silent on this issue.  They represent rural areas where there are only two government facilities – the LCC in Cornwall and the paint and body shop in Milton.  It appears that the Ghiz government’s plan for “One Island Community” is primarily designed to shuffle around voters to pad the future election. 

The bottom line is that moving the paint and body shop to Tignish has not been well thought out.  The move will cost taxpayers well over a million dollars at a time when government itself has called for fiscal prudence; it is clearly not efficient in regard to servicing government equipment as most of this equipment is located east of Summerside; and it coerces established families in rural areas to move, commute or find other employment.  If there was a real rural action plan in place, wouldn’t it include ways and means to help both Tignish and Milton?  Let’s leave the paint and body shop where it is and create full time permanent positions for the many casuals in Tignish.  Let’s help all parties concerned. 

Shelley Ward
President, PEI Union of Public Sector Employees