I make an effort to support local businesses and products but such effort has me questioning the quality of product being sold by one Downtown Charlottetown business; Currie’s Colver Farm, located at 72 Queen Street, is notorious, from my experience, for selling expired products.
I am not a food scientist by any means and nutrition is not something I know much about, but one thing I do follow closely are the expiration dates printed on product packaging. It is my understanding, as a member of the general public, that products must be sold before they expire. I could be wrong about all of this but surely there are food safety laws that do not allow a store to sell an expired product, especially after recent e coli and listeriosis outbreaks.
Ignoring the reduced meat freezer that Currie has in his store, my most recent experience was when I wanted to purchase some hot dogs to offer out at a BBQ on June 25. Clover Farm had a “reduced to clear” shelve with Maple Leaf Top Dogs on sale for around half price but had expired on May 17. Another brand of hot dogs, not reduced in price, had expired on June 19. The only fresh hot dogs were being sold for almost double their regular market price, almost forcing budget seekers into purchasing the expired hot dogs or going to another store.
I am sure I’m not the only consumer in Downtown Charlottetown who is questioning the quality of some products being sold at Currie’s Colver Farm. Personally, I don’t mind paying a little extra to support a local business but in the interest of quality, I’ll be switching super markets until giving Currie’s Clover Farm another try in the fall.
Tim Banks said over Twitter that Starbucks will be locating in the Tweel Building. I suspect the tourism office will be located next to Starbucks as it appears the space was divided up into two space, one much smaller than the other.
The City of Charlottetown, an incorporated municipality, is managed by several departments which are directed by an elected body of ten councilors and a mayor. The city is responsible for roughly 45 square kilometers (44.33 km2) of boundary; its duties to the roughly 35,000 people who call Charlottetown their home range from police to fire services, local road and utility management to planning and direction of development.
Like other municipalities in Canada, Charlottetown has guidelines in place for development which allow land owners to build and renovate structures on their property. Most development within the city is handled through a simple permit process where a landowner would receive a building permit as long as their plans follows set guidelines. If a landowner has development plans that exceed the set standards then the issue is brought before city council for debate and decision; its a fair system which has work well for over 150 years, but now it’s under attack.
Roger’s Communication’s approached Charlottetown with a development plan for a massive cell phone tower project which it wanted located within city boundaries. The project required a decision by city council because it did not follow development guidelines for the area. After speaking with area residents, the city denied a building permit to Roger’s for its cell phone tower proposal. Area residents cheered while Roger’s cried to Industry Canada for an appeal; an appeal which it won followed by an Industry Canada approval – not a city issued building permit – to go ahead and build the tower. Construction of the tower started without a building permit but the city has since issued a permit because it could not afford to fight Roger’s, and an Industry Canada ruling, in a courtroom.
The represented voice of 35,000 Charlottetownians was ignored when Industry Canada did not respect Charlottetown’s authority to decide the direction of development within her 45 square kilometers. …and it doesn’t stop here, there’s more to the story of diminished municipal authority in Charlottetown, and I suspect this threatening situation is the same for every community across Canada.
Another fine example is the recent Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) ruling that Charlottetown City Council had no right to deny a land owner’s application to rezone his land, an application that wanted to see 19 families kicked out of their mobile homes so a 50-unit condominium could be constructed on the property. IRAC has stated that it has the authority to rezone the land without the approval of council and the people whom they speak for.
Something needs to be done to ensure municipalities have control over their communities, and I think I have the answer. Stay tuned for some of my suggestions on what needs to be done to correct this growing concern.
I have been working on setting up a neighbourly program in Charlottetown over the last few months. The idea behind the program will be to connect people who need help around the house with people who are willing to offer a helping hand, such as moving to a new apartment or doing some yard work. I have sparked some interest among a few friends when I brought this idea to them, so I feel that we should be able to formulate this concept into something great.
I would like to see a Web site online in the next few months where people can sign-up to help out or to ask for help. First, I need some help. I am looking for people who might like to help organize this program and get it running. If you are interested in helping out then please leave a comment or send me an email – andrew at thegoodkid dot com.
Someone in Charlottetown has a lack of respect for public property, their community and their country. Someone “tagged” the Sir John A MacDonald sculpture on Queen Street. It’s not spray paint but it’s on there really good.
I don’t know what it is about my girlfriend and I but we seem to cross paths with fighting birds quite often… well, twice; once in Oxford, England and again in Charlottetown.
Here’s the video from the Charlottetown bird fight:
I posted a video, Duck Mosh, to my blog last month. That video was composed with clips we shot from our encounter with fighting birds in England.
Last week I wrote about the removal of two trees in front of a building where I thought Starbucks would be locating. Tim Banks is saying the tenant of the Tweel Building, located on the corner of Kent and University, will be “City Tourism,” according to a tweet Banks sent out on June 3rd.
Banks also confirmed that Shopper’s Drugmart is looking for a new location. I assume he was comtweeting (comment via Twitter?) about their Downtown Charlottetown location.
I have been following news on the Island over the last few months on the fate of some school governed by the Eastern School District. Many Islanders are upset that their rural communities will be losing their local school while other Islanders support the idea of closing smaller schools in favor of large schools with many more resources. I have stayed out of the debate myself because I do not have any children. I understand where some of the disappointment is coming from in regards to loosing a local school but I also understand the argument for bigger schools – I guess you could say I am neutral on the topic.
Today, June 1, 2009, protesters gathered outside the office of Premier Robert Ghiz protesting the school closures. Ghiz is finding himself in the middle of a debate which could affected the length of his government’s stay in office. Although I am not a huge supporter of his, I do feel bad for Ghiz because he is only following recommendations and wishes of the trustees who govern the school district’s policies – trustees who are democratically elected to their positions by Islanders.
The real blame for school closures actually belongs to Islanders, or more so the ones who did not partake in the 2008 School Board Trustee elections. Believe it or not, but five of the eleven Eastern School District’s trustees were actually elected by acclamation, meaning only one person wanted the job so they won their zone’s seat by default. The other six trustees were elected by less than 2150 Islanders who actually voted in 2008. These are the elected trustees who voted to close the schools.
Maybe some of these schools could have been saved if Islanders paid more attention to school district elections; after all, we have school district elections to keep government’s hands off the policy and direction of our school system. Robert Ghiz really only has one choice and that choice is to listen to Islanders and the eleven trustees they elected to protect their schools.
I ranted in my previous post about two trees that were cut down in Downtown Charlottetown to make a sign more visible. After thinking about the practise of cutting down trees I started to wonder why Council members do not vote on the removal of trees; why residents of this city do not have an official say in whether a tree is cut down or left alone in regards to trees living on land owned or managed by the city.
Residents of Charlottetown relinquish their civic powers to ten city councilors and one mayor. The reason that we do this is because, obviously, not every resident of Charlottetown can find the time to personally go to City Hall to have their say, so we elect someone to do it for us. It is the job of city council to make decisions that reflect the wishes of the majority and to plan and guide our city into a future where it will remain livable and profitable.
I feel that if a tree is living on land owned or managed by the city then that tree belongs to the residents of Charlottetown and as such residents should have a voice in regards to the future of that tree. If someone cut down a tree on my property I would file a law suit against that person. Charlottetown City Council needs to vote on the removal of trees unless the tree is growing on private property or if it is causing a danger to the pubic or a building.
I’ll be passing this recommendation along to my councilor.
The City of Charlottetown allowed two mature trees to be chopped down to make a new business more visible on the corner of Kent Street and University Avenue in Downtown Charlottetown.
The Guardian reported that Clifford Lee is looking to find a new species of trees that will grow at a reasonable rate and will never grow to block the view of buildings. Many cities are built around large trees and all use a common practice to increase visibility; tree pruning. Charlottetown itself already prunes a lot of the trees in Downtown Charlottetown but for some reason the two trees on this particular corner had to be removed. This whole story reeks of corporate influence.
The business being located in the old Tweel building has yet to be announced but there have been rumors going around town that Starbucks is expanding into the Charlottetown market and those rumors are backed-up by Starbucks’ recruitment team actively looking for a local manager. When you look at the whole issue of trees being cut down to make business signs more visible and a large chain posting job advertisement, it becomes clear that the unannounced business will be Starbucks, or some other chain.
Charlottetown has a record of bending over backwards for large chain stores. City council needs to grow a pair of proverbial balls when it comes to giving into corporate demands. If these chains want to setup shop in Charlottetown they will likely scale back their plans to do ridiculous things, like cut down tree so their sign is easier to read. Vancouver forced Wal-Mart into changing their store’s exterior design to incorporate more glass and sunlight to make the store blend in with the community, as well as being more environmentally friendly.
I’m not against corporations moving into our city, I just wish our city had a better official plan than the one we have now. Charlottetown needs a theme and we need to force businesses to accept that and customize their designs to fit in. Cutting down trees should not be part of the plan unless the plan sees Charlottetown growing up to look like an industrial park.
Granville Street, Vancouver. Imagine how it might look without these mature trees.
Granville Street, Vancouver. Imagine how it might look without these mature trees.
