CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — In his state of the province address Monday night, Premier Dennis King credited Prince Edward Island’s caring and compassionate people with the good fortune this province has seen when avoiding the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fact that P.E.I. has not seen the major sickness, hospitalization and deaths that other provinces and countries have experienced makes the province an attractive place to live and work.
We are both grateful and concerned about what this means as P.E.I. navigates what is being referred to as the “new normal”.
King kept his speech optimistic for the P.E.I. Rotary Clubs’ audience who tuned in via Facebook. While he acknowledged some setbacks, he promised the virtual crowd that 2021 would be a transition year and “we will blow the doors off” in 2022.
We caution the premier to mind who is left in the cold when the doors come off.
While touting a record 1,200 building starts in 2020, the premier did fleetingly acknowledge the housing crisis plaguing Islanders who are looking for an affordable home.
“Real estate agents will tell you that, right now, the market on P.E.I. is very hot,” King said. “That’s both good news and bad, I suppose, depending on which side of the transaction table you’re sitting.”
Indeed.
King spent some time in his speech waxing poetic about P.E.I.’s unexpected population growth by evoking “new Canadians anxious to build new lives and new businesses in a land that cherishes and protects religious, economic and political freedom” as well as “sons and daughters who felt the need to move elsewhere to advance their careers” … being welcomed “home with open arms”.
There is no question that strong immigration and repatriation is good for P.E.I.’s economic and cultural future. These methods of growing our population have long been supported by this newspaper.
However, there is a flip side to a population growing faster than anticipated, and this is felt most painfully by the province’s most vulnerable citizens.
“Trickle down” economists tell us that the people who can afford the most expensive homes will leave affordable places for the tenant or homeowner in the next income bracket. What this calculation fails to consider is the next person to buy the vacated smaller home seems often to be a prospector who wants to renovate the space and lease it at a higher price for the short or long term.
We reported last week on tenants who are being forced from their affordable homes in a building that is not up to code. The new landlord is beginning renovations to make the space safe. In the meantime, the tenants have nowhere to go. After renovations, they expect they will not be able to afford their old apartments.
These are the stories that are overlooked when government focuses on the positive sides of economic growth. These are the Islanders who need the care and compassion of which the premier speaks.
