CRAPAUD, P.E.I. - Crapaud residents have a decision to make.
For the first time in recent memory, there is a race for the mayor’s chair with Mike Connolly running against Neila Auld.
Connolly became Crapaud’s acting chair in September 2015, then acting mayor when the new Municipal Government Act was passed.
Auld, former owner of the South Shore Pharmacy, served two terms on village council.
Council candidates Arnold Stewart, Donna Henley, Gary Lippman, Sabrina Arthur, Joanne Harvey and Spencer MacKinnon were all acclaimed.
Connolly is in favour of a bypass around Crapaud, and his reason is personal.
In 2016, his kids witnessed a fatal vehicle-pedestrian collision at the bottom of their driveway on a curve in the Trans-Canada Highway.
“It was awful. That turn’s just not great.”
A bypass to the west of Crapaud was discussed in 2011 and then shelved when the province went ahead with the Plan B realignment in Bonshaw.
Connolly says it could be back on the table, unofficially.
“I think when the government finishes Cornwall, possibly we could be the next project. If I do get back in, I’ll be supporting that 100 per cent.”
Auld said she would need more information to take a position on the bypass project, but she believes it will happen.
“I worry about the businesses that are here … I don’t know how much business is related to coming through Crapaud, but the tourism part of it, you’d certainly lose that.”
The issue of a family doctor has dominated local circles since Dr. Joey Giordani left the area less than a year ago, and it’s a priority for both candidates.
Connolly is a co-chair of the South Shore Health and Wellness committee, alongside current pharmacy owner Lisa Gallant.
The province recently gave permission for the committee to do its own recruiting, he said.
“We want the doctor. We’ve had a doctor here going back over 100 years. It’s kind of the focal point of the community, so we’re really trying to make that happen.”
Construction is underway on a new health clinic, he said.
Auld said Gallant has “worked her butt off” to set up a walk-in clinic with a nurse practitioner, but that it isn’t enough to serve the area’s needs.
“Nothing replaces family physician. The follow-up care is just not there.”
Attracting young families to the Sherwood Forest subdivision is important to Auld. She’d like to see some apartment buildings or duplexes built in the area.
“Everybody wants to see something done with Sherwood Forest and I think council is going to have to do something with the price of the properties. We need young families to move in. We’re losing them.”
Both candidates discussed the prospect of amalgamation for the area.
Connolly said he’s been an advocate since Judge Ralph Thompson’s 2010 report proposing a municipal makeover across the Island.
“With the new municipalities act, if you don’t act, then the government comes in and they make the changes for you. The only thing we’re saying is if you want control of your community, you have to take amalgamation seriously.”
The community has had discussions with Victoria over the last year and a half, he said.
Auld hopes Crapaud will be “on the top end” of amalgamation, rather than being a lesser party.
Lots of residents are talking about the issue, she said.
Connolly said he was part of creating a trail away from the highway for kids to walk to school, as well as the recruitment of Dollarama to fill the old pharmacy building.
Auld said she was in charge of sewer issues during the lagoon expansion, which installed environmentally friendly technology.
She believes council should be more open and transparent, particularly in educating residents about changes in the new Municipal Government Act.
Connolly said attracting more business is a top concern for him, while Auld is passionate about Englewood School.
