Randy McDonald ([info]rfmcdpei) wrote,
@ 2004-01-29 20:48:00
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Current mood:political

Letter to The Guardian
Thansk to [info]london_calling for the idea! Now, let's see if they publish it.

***

To whom it may concern:

Prince Edward Island is my home, and it has been the home of four generations of my ancestors. On the whole, I'm rather fond of PEI, not least because it was a nice place to grow up.

I graduated, in May of 2003, with a B.A. Honours. Right now, though, I'm pursuing my education on the mainland, in Ontario, where I intend to get a MA degree this coming June. Based on my academic record and my work experience to date, I believe that I'd be a good worker. However, I do not intend to return to my native province in the search of work, simply because almost all of my university-educated friends have found it impossible to find rewarding careers here. Despite making significant investments of time, effort, and money in their education, the only jobs that they can find are either economically unrewarding or personally deadening, or both.

Over the 1990s, Prince Edward Island was the only province in Atlantic Canada with a growing population. The 1990s as a whole was an era of highly positive change for Prince Edward Island, and for Islanders. Even so, not enough has changed, particularly in the realm of employment. Call centres--where most of my (employed) friends work--might provide useful short-term employment, but you simply can't build a life based on that, while the situations for jobs in retail and manufacturing are much the same. It still isn't very easy for an Islander with post-secondary education to find a career here, not unless they want to take positions for which they're overqualified.

And so, I won't be coming back here to live. I'd like to be able to seriously consider returning, but the Island's persistent failure since Confederation to develop a high-wage, high-skills economy--an economy that appropriately rewards people with education--makes this impossible. It's my loss, I fear; I'd also like to think it's the Island's loss.

When will Islanders take the need to upgrade our province's economy seriously?

Randy McDonald
Kingston, Ontario


(17 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]london_calling
2004-01-29 06:21 pm UTC (link)
brilliant randy!!
oh, i hope they do print it!

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re:
[info]rfmcdpei
2004-01-29 10:16 pm UTC (link)
Indeed. Will you let me know, if it gets published, if anyone replies to it?

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re:
[info]london_calling
2004-01-30 05:42 am UTC (link)
yup! editorials are also available online, but just a day late is all

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re:
[info]rfmcdpei
2004-01-30 05:55 am UTC (link)
Really? So, accessible from www.theguardian.pe.ca, then? OK.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Re:
[info]rfmcdpei
2004-01-30 07:26 am UTC (link)
Sorry--are the letters to the editor listed under the editorials?

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re:
[info]london_calling
2004-01-30 08:49 am UTC (link)
should be

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re:
[info]rfmcdpei
2004-01-30 09:01 am UTC (link)
You mean here? I'm confused.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re:
[info]london_calling
2004-01-31 07:56 am UTC (link)
yes that is exactly it....but the guardian will put up sat's paper maybe tomorrow or monday. they don't want to stop people from buying the actualpaper! ifyours isn't the first one, you just scroll down until you find it....

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]nire_nagaf
2004-01-29 07:06 pm UTC (link)
They will -- I don't, personally, wish to see this issue die yet in public debate. Right now, people are up in arms over downtown student residence for Holland College students as it will, I guess, "hamper" their neighbourhoods. I imagine a major cause of stagnation here is that so many are terrified of or are downright opposed to significant change! -- people who settle here are seeking comfort zones

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re:
[info]rfmcdpei
2004-01-29 10:13 pm UTC (link)
Exactly. There has to be some way to innovate while remaining Islander.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Improving economies...
[info]escondidoid
2004-01-29 11:00 pm UTC (link)
Hmm... This may sound "American" of me, but have any of you thought of starting your own businesses? California's Silicon Valley, Austin, North Carolina's "Research Triangle," even my current home of San Diego all are pleasant places to live which, over time, have attracted highly-educated entrepreneurs in cutting-edge fields. PEI doesn't sound so far out of the way as to be too remote, especially with the new bridge. Also, while Charlottetown isn't the transportation hub, say, Atlanta is, in this era of virtual communications "location, location, location" isn't nearly so important as it used to be. Just put up a sharp website and, yes, hire a call center and the business should come in remotely.

Sorry, but over the past few years I've thought in these terms for fictional works. Those ideas came from real-world examples I see all the time...

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: Improving economies...
[info]rfmcdpei
2004-01-31 09:35 am UTC (link)
That's true, but the question of where to set up a business remains big.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]countess_sophia
2004-01-30 12:18 am UTC (link)
Very good. One nitpick though - letters to the editor are traditionally started "Sir," (unless you know the editor to be female), not "To whom it may concern" which sounds rather rude as this is not a circular.

Soph x

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re:
(Anonymous)
2004-01-30 12:12 pm UTC (link)
letters to the editor are traditionally started "Sir"

The American norm is to start them with "To the Editor," but y'all have always been better-mannered than we are.

Jonathan Edelstein (http://headheeb.blogmosis.com/)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]of_evangeline
2004-01-30 08:25 am UTC (link)
*crosses fingers for you* :D

(Reply to this)


[info]ex_taem158
2004-01-31 07:23 am UTC (link)
A stellar letter - well written, well thought-out. Everything. And, fairly true.

Though I think it should be notice that quite a few jobs are available in education. And a number of the science folks (BSc) I know aren't having that much of a problem finding jobs - although not always exactly related to their fields of expertise, as Danny will attest.

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re:
[info]rfmcdpei
2004-01-31 09:33 am UTC (link)
Well, that's where rhetoric and hyperbole come into play.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(17 comments) - (Post a new comment)

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