Mother searches for answers after 25-year-old daughter dies from diabetes while living in housing facility in Charlottetown run by CMHA.
"It's a horrifying story because this is a condition that is fatal, but it's one that is entirely avoidable.”
Just a reminder that some journalists in this country regularly get messages from people saying they can’t wait to see us hanging from the end of a rope. For example, in response to any story about COVID-19.
That’s in Canada in the year 2022.
“by 1907 every Southern state had changed its constitution to disenfranchise Black voters through poll taxes, literacy tests, property requirements... # of Black registered voters in MS fell from 130,483 in 1876 to 1,264 by 1900; in LA from 130,000 in 1896 to 1,342 in 1904”
Memo to
@SenatorSinema
: in 1890s states like Mississippi rushed to disenfranchise Black voters, House passed bill to stop it but Senate filibustered legislation protecting voting rights & we got Jim Crow. Now history will repeat itself if Dems don’t act
"I couldn't figure out how to say that the puck was in the middle of their skates, and the players were trying to dig it out. So I would say they were 'chopping onions and cilantro and tomatoes.'"
Loved writing this on the NHL's three Spanish play-by-play voices, and how they call hockey things that don't exist in their language.
"When someone smashes someone else into the wall, I'd yell, 'There's a ham sandwich! Torta de jamon!'"
"I love Anne of Green Gables. I have for years," said Aretha. "That’s one of my favourite things. She’s such a can-do kind of girl, that’s why I’m crazy about her. And that Gilbert Blythe? He’s a charmer."
#PEI
#ArethaQueenForever
Updated with the Stats Can info I finally tracked down to be able to compare annual heating costs across the country, taking temperature into account.
#PEI
, if you could heat with SK gas: $1281
SK, if you had to heat with PEI oil: $4027
Wow. I was just told by a
#PEI
comms person not to ask questions of cabinet ministers when they do funding announcements that aren't related to that specific funding announcement. That it's "unfair" to put a minister of the crown on the spot asking accountability questions.
My inbox filled yesterday with Islanders thanking me for digging into this story.
Meanwhile my wife's getting hateful DMs because she tweeted my story.
She can more than handle herself but there's something wrong here.
We are at the point in the pandemic where I have come home with a random cake.
For days I’ve been thinking about hunkering thru the storm & sharing this with
@ReporterTeresa
& our boys. I don’t even like cake.
The woman behind me at Sobeys seemed to think this was a good idea
Sent my kid to his new middle school with a mask in his bag today knowing he won't wear it. He'd be fine with it if he wouldn't get singled out. Don't want him to get COVID given underlying health condition.
Still wrapping my head around UPEI requiring masks, but not schools.
Twice today random strangers on the street went out of their way to tell me they appreciate my work covering
@peileg
. There can be no better place in Canada to be a journo (especially covering politics). We serve the greatest audience anywhere and I am grateful every day for this
I spent Boxing Day & Dec 27 in bed with COVID. Would have been longer if I wasn’t vaxxed.
Now there are infections rippling through family likely caused by me.
We acted like this was over (me included) and it wasn’t.
Get vaxxed. Wear a mask. It’s not hard.
For those who weren't watching the council feed:
10-0 vote to rescind the motion to defer from 2 days ago.
10-0 vote to allow the permit for the temporary homeless shelter to go ahead for one year.
#peipoli
It's official: UPEI has confirmed it will require all faculty, staff & students to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18. Those who can't be vaccinated due to medical, cultural, or religious reasons will be required to disclose to university, be tested weekly & wear a mask at all times.
I am ready to ditch this platform for something like it where everyone posts under their actual name. If this platform doesn't exist, someone please create it.
Honestly — we would reduce transmission of COVID, RSV & other illnesses by masking in busy indoor spaces. Like we used to.
Fewer people would miss work. Fewer people would die. It’s be easier on our health care system.
The science is clear. But apparently it’s a no-go.
I am honestly puzzled by the twitter trolls that keep telling people not to talk about going two weeks with no power. Why should that topic be taboo?
If you don't want to hear about it -- don't read our tweets. Problem solved, you're welcome.
Trust me, I would help if I were an electrician.
As a professional communicator, I am staying in my lane and instead communicating how this affecting real people, like my family.
Thanks for your compassion.
After 13 days without power, our block finally lit up last night. I came home around 6 to see our street blocked off. For hours, neighbours stood outside and watched crews raise & string up a new pole at the end of our street.
Some people: we're still in the midst of the 2nd deadliest pandemic (after AIDS) since the 1918 influenza outbreak, the virus keeps mutating & we should probably continue to take basic precautions.
Other people: scaredy cat, let's just get on with the dying.
This is 2022.
#PEI
MLA
@GordMcNeillyPEI
looks on as a group outside the legislature delivers a statement to the premier, asking politicians to prove they are allies thru their actions. Lists off requests for the province to look at laws from racial lense, ensure police protect all equally.
I tried to quantify how much more it costs to heat with oil on the east coast or wherever it's used. With current prices, about 4x more to produce equal energy using natural gas. The provinces that use the most oil are also the poorest.
#peipoli
#cdnpoli
Wants to attack my family but doesn’t want me to see.
We know exactly who this is. They signed a peace bond in July requiring no contact with our family, making this a criminal offence. Just a matter of getting police / Crown to enforce.
Please report this account.
*** Personal News ***
After three amazing years with the CP Ottawa bureau, I am embarking on a new adventure.
I have accepted a job teaching journalism & communications at
@hollandcollege
starting this fall. It means I will be leaving The Canadian Press & moving back to P.E.I.
I’ve always had this thing about parking lots. There are rules but as a rule they aren’t enforced. The rules exist to maintain public order. Follow the rules, we all get our groceries, everything’s fine.
When people flaunt the rules, I wonder what other rules they ignore.
Last day, last shoot for videographer Randy McAndrew after 27 years with CBC & 15 more years shooting in the private sector. After our interview with
@dennyking
today, the premier presented Randy with a plaque.
#pei
#peipoli
@cbcpei
#PEI
announced 1 new case of
#COVID19
today.
#ON
announced 1,074.
If PEI had Ontario's population, our 1 case would be 92 cases.
Ontario's 1,074 cases would work out to 12 here.
As a PEI resident I find this type of math sometimes helps me contextualize what's happening.
After days with a mildly sore throat and with an important medical appt this week, went for drive-thru COVID testing this morning. Twice as many cars as when I took my son a week ago but got thru in no time. Negative results before bedtime! Well done
#PEI
.
Good morning everyone. Hard to even know where to begin today. Can't stop thinking about our friends, neighbours & families in NS. We are all in mourning. Sometimes you just can't make sense of the world.
Help someone today, if you can. It can make a difference.
Every day I have new people reaching out to me to tell me about what UPEI was like for them as a workplace. Every. Day.
In 20 years of reporting (16 here) I've never seen this kind of response...
People are wondering why
#PEI
premier
@dennyking
hasn't commented on last week's byelection loss for the PCs & still hasn't congratulated the winner.
We asked for comment/a statement the day after the Greens won the seat & didn't get a response...
There have been 31,190 COVID deaths recorded in Canada so far. That's 0.08% of the population.
Had PEI kept pace with the rest of the country, our share would have been 133.
Think I received more feedback on this interview with Father Charlie Cheverie than every other interview I did for Compass put together:
'I could not have written a better scenario for my life': Father Charlie Cheverie marks 60 years as a priest | CBC News
Today the prime minister told us to buy Canadian lobster. Now, I do not go out and immediately do all the things he tells us to. But this time I'm thinking I will. So just let me know where to get my
#PEI
lobster on landing day.
I'd like to know why these releases from the PEI government consistently come out so late in the day. 5:43 pm is when I received this. After our last local radio newscast. I'm guessing this has missed the Guardian's print deadline.
This is public health information.
BREAKING: 1/2 Dr. Heather Morrison is announcing three new cases of
#COVID19
in
#PEI
. Two are in their 20s, the other is between the ages of 10 and 19. One case travelled within Atlantic Canada and two of the cases travelled outside Atlantic Canada.
@CBCPEI
Working on a story on these flyers that were distributed on
#PEI
over the weekend. No response from the email address which would apparently connect with the group responsible for these. Anyone who received one who'd like to talk, my DMs are open.
#peipoli
Just occurred to me how grateful I am to live in a country where parties who lose the election don't try to convince their supporters the election was fraudulent. Thought just popped in there and, ya I'm really happy with that.
#elxn44
This has been an extraordinary discussion about health care on
#PEI
, as MLAs conduct an exit interview with the former head of Health PEI.
Any Islanders interested in health care (so, everyone) should consider watching.
Will go up here eventually:
“Based on our epidemiology”
I’m really curious to understand how the epidemiology points to continuing without a mask mandate, especially for schools, as the way to power through this outbreak of respiratory illnesses among kids.
This is not ok. The level of it is honestly shocking.
I get that there are people who’ve created an alternate reality, & blame the media for not joining in. But the level of hate in this stuff is appalling. Made so much worse because these are women.
It’s unreal the amount of hate we are getting — for losing our jobs.
What is wrong with people? How are we ever supposed to have good people - and ✨women✨- to speak truth to power when this is how we are treated?
This stuff might seem obvious, but never thought about it til I learned this morning:
- gas pumps can't pump gas without power
- cell towers have battery backup to keep them going thru an outage. Once that's done, if they don't have a generator onsite, they go offline
Is there no better way to contact people who were on a COVID flight than to just put it out there two weeks after the fact & hope they get the message?
Are there privacy issues sharing contact info of passengers? Is it proprietary? Because if I was on that flight, please call me
Day 15 without power for 7,000 customers of Maritime Electric on
#PEI
, representing about 16,000 people -- 1 in 10 Islanders.
I think it's fair to say when Fiona hit few people thought they'd be without power going into the Thanksgiving weekend.
If you call the Red Cross (number given out in
#PEI
's Fiona briefing today) and say you're in Prince Edward Island and need support they tell you they don't have any information, and to check with EMO.
So, it seems the only number you might be able to call to get help is 211.
Day 12 without power for 9,000 customers of Maritime Electric in
#PEI
-- about 20,000 Islanders still waking up in the dark almost two weeks after Fiona.
I can’t stop thinking about this family. This is what happens when you drink and drive. We all need to remember this.
3 dead, 2 critically injured in crash in Marshfield
I am again climbing upon a hilltop to shout out to all who will listen that freedom of information in
#PEI
is broken. I’ll climb down from my hilltop before 8 to speak with
@mitchcormierCBC
on
@CBCPEI
.
#peipoli
I thought my favourite letter to the editor of all time would end up being the one where a
@PEIGuardian
reader thanked me for my reporting
@CBCPEI
. I was wrong. Thank you Jean Trainor, from Oliver's dad.
@ReporterTeresa
Had a phone conversation with someone from
#ON
this morning who seemed generally awe-struck by the freedoms
#PEI
residents are able to enjoy right now, like going to a restaurant.
Because in every province people are wondering about their politicians, here's what I was told today via email from a member of
#PEI
premier
@dennyking
's staff: "no member of cabinet has left the 'Atlantic Bubble' or the country since March 18, 2020."
I just told everyone to "have a great weekend," and while I meant it, it's not really what I meant to say.
Stay safe, secure, sane... warm. May your nights be filled with electric light.
Welcome to day six without power for about 79,000
#PEI
residents, according to my napkin math.
Maritime Electric has reached 50% in terms of customers who now have power -- about 41,000.
Summerside Electric has 7,000 customers. My calculation assumes they all have power.
Word of some type of event has preceded my arrival
@peileg
. Inside this white paper envelope left on my desk (with no return address), more evidence of this multi-party collaboration we keep hearing about.
2 knees. One protesting in the grass, one pressing on the back of a man’s neck. Choose. You have to choose which knee you will defend. There are no half choices; there is no room for indifference. There is only the knee of protest, or the knee on the neck.
Special moment in
@peileg
.
@SonnyGallant
just broke down thanking his wife and family for their support in helping him through his difficulties with heart disease over the last few months. He shared his story this morning on
@CBCPEI
.
Gallant gets a standing ovation for that.
A long time ago... May 1978 actually... Lucky Star Drive-In, Brandon, MB. We were the last car to get in to see Star Wars. Huge line behind us turned away. My six-year-old mind was blown. Really, it was life-changing. 41 years later...
A very kind public health nurse whose face I never saw administered my test. Someone else behind a screen recorded info.
If you’ve never done this you won’t be prepared for how deep the swab goes no matter how many times you are warned.
Total time 2 mins. Results 72 hours.
I’m at home for the
#peipoli
debate. Two of us have been isolating with our first cases of COVID. The third boy just had his wisdom teeth out today.
If
@ReporterTeresa
gets us all through this, there’s gotta be a medal in it for her.
So I just keep trying to do my job, which as I see it, is to try to hold people in goverment accountable for what they do or don't do with that power. It involves asking them questions when you can. Part of the job is also explaining things to the public (like vaccinations).
I really liked this 'get a room' moment in
@peileg
yesterday during QP between the opposition leader and the premier. With all the bitterness in
#cdnpoli
right now, we probably need more of this.
#peipoli
I’ve noticed more people these days asking “Why isn’t the media reporting this crime / tragedy that I saw / heard about / read about on my socials?”
Often we are at the mercy of authorities, whether they will tell us / confirm details etc., and how quickly.
We have been witnessing for years the undermining of Western democracy through disinformation — the abandonment of a common understanding as to the actual state of affairs in the world. Qanon, Trump 2020, COVID disinformation have all played a part in that. So has Russia.
Peter Bevan-Baker has just told
#PEI
Green party members he has decided to step down as party leader, given the results of the 2023 election, where the party went from 8 to 2 seats.
Says he will retain his seat, and stay in as leader until a new one is chosen.
I used to feel like people were occasionally glaring at me because I was wearing a mask. But that was weeks ago.
#PEI
, we need to get past this. My mask protects you. Your mask protects me. We protect each other.
My mom was verbally abused today at
@StratfordPEI
@sobeys
by a male customer - for wearing a mask. She is shaken and upset. You would be too. This abuse is totally unacceptable - please call it out if you see it instead of standing by.
#dobetter
Even amid the starkness of the situation, P.E.I manages to make it feel homey. We just got off the Confederation Bridge where we were screened for COVID-19. But as soon as we rolled down our window,
@kerrywcampbell
was greeted by name as we were kindly informed to self-isolate.
.
@ElectionsPEI
has officially announced delay in election for D9. As per Election Act, byelection to be held within 3 months, date announced in the coming weeks. However referendum vote in D9 will go ahead on election day.
Agency offers thoughts & prayers to Underhay family.
So it's clear we could not move fuel from the Irving depot on the Charlottetown waterfront because there was no backup power. That seems like a pretty important vulnerability in
#PEI
's ability to deal with events like this. Power there has now been restored.
A group that sprang into existence 2 weeks ago to help Islanders post-Fiona,
@ChtownMutualAid
, showed up to distribute bottles of water to people lined up for hours waiting to see the Red Cross in the hopes of receiving $250 in aid promised by the
#PEI
government.
There is some cold Greco pizza in our fridge a colleague brought all the way from Moncton and it tastes like the best pizza I've ever eaten in my whole life.
Day 4 without power for 69,000 customers of Maritime Electric — still most of
#PEI
.
Every day I come home hoping to see crews might have gotten to this mess at the end of our street. Until they do, there won’t be any power for our neighbourhood. It’s the same all over.
I just said on live TV that
#PEI
reached "peak forest" in 1990.
That is clearly incorrect.
I did get info from govt saying there was a peak in 1990, but that would just be during this period of aerial surveys.
If anyone was here to see actual "peak forest," they were Mi'kmaq.
A romantic candlelit dinner, including an impossible burger for the woman of my dreams, and for me, a steak I promised her would not send me to the ER. And a cold beer (Oak Tree Place LC is open).
#fionaPEI
I feel pain on behalf of my talented print colleagues here in Ch'town when the daily paper comes out without the big story from the night before because of deadlines & trucking papers from Halifax.
Today's the day,
#PEI
. Get out there and vote! AB hit 70%, how much can we beat that by? Let's keep our voter turnout bragging rights for another election cycle.
#peipoli
#cdnpoli
A tale of two recent FOIPP requests, 1 sent to NS, the other to
#PEI
:
NS - We'll respond in 30 days. Reach out if you have questions. Kind regards (I feel that warmth)
PEI (IRAC) - "We are unable to confirm or deny the existence of the records you have requested"
#peipoli
#cdnfoi
Filling in hosting CBC Compass this week. As always, an honour to carry this torch.
We've got PEI's Health Minister Ernie Hudson booked for today's interview, and lots to talk about.
Just dawned on me: Gerard Gallant was hired & fired by Las Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon. The same person who hired & almost fired me c. 30 years ago as hockey organist for the Brandon Wheat Kings.
#worldscolliding