Sure as I am that all will agree with me on this point, I noticed this in an otherwise innocent article on CBC PEI today:
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is calling for the federal government to reverse a decision to move a translation bureau from Charlottetown to Halifax. Vaughan Davies, the union president on the Island, said three jobs will disappear as a result. One person has been moved to the Department of Veteran's Affairs, another has lost their job, and a third position was vacant. Davies said the vacant job is the reason being cited for moving the office.I think the marketplace is doing a little interpretation on that point that the collective labour force politbureau apparatchiks might be having a little trouble with. Why is it never good enough to be just as good? It is a very good place, indeed, just as are most others."The employer is unable to fill the manager position in Charlottetown because no one wants to move to Prince Edward Island, which is extremely tough to buy seeing as Prince Edward Island is the most beautiful province in Canada and is the finest province in Canada to live in."
Public works officials have not yet commented on the decision to close the bureau in Charlottetown.
Comments
Alan - December 20, 2004 12:48 PM
Now, if I am not mistaken, I think that would be a voice on the "nyet" side.
Ben - December 20, 2004 1:01 PM
How much do you want to bet that the unfilled federal position can only be applied for by somebody living in a PEI postal code.
Hans - December 20, 2004 1:44 PM
This is a bit of gordian knot you've posted here, Al. You've got federal government waste, bureaucratic red-tape, politics (no doubt), Upper Canadian disdain for "provincial" living and the naive PEI arrogance that some people actually don't want to live here. PLUS you're own delight in poking at this PEI trait. So much material! Okay, I'll bite. But let me try a different tack: How many people work at DVA in Charlottetown? How many clients do they service? What is the cost of the infrastructure for this government department? What are the net benefits distributed by DVA to clients and/or John Q. Taxpayer? The economic impact of DVA for Charlottetown and PEI has been tremendously positive, but is it a worthwhile federal government policy to decentralize such government work? If so, why aren't we seeing more decentralization? Is it because federal bureaucrats are reluctant to leave "Fat City"?
Julia - December 20, 2004 1:48 PM
Hmm... I've been to Charlottetown and while it is a nice city on a beautiful island, I can see why they would have trouble hiring. Maybe what they need to do is to offer that job to any of the Americans looking to move out of the USA after this past election.
Alan - December 20, 2004 2:07 PM
Hans, you do have me down pat. I am, however, not particularly offended at all by the PEI DVA HQ. I think it is a great idea rather than the masses of Federal branch plants in Halifax which are at the mercy of their Fat City bretheren. Why isn't DFO in St. John's and DND in Halifax?<p>No, I was just poking at the PEI official party line in the quote. I was going to check if there was a regulation under the Federal Act deeming PEI "the birthplace of Confederation". When you have to deem a historical fact in law, there must be a pretty tenuous grasp on the fact.
Hans - December 20, 2004 2:13 PM
Isn't it "The Cradle of Confederation" TM?
Alan - December 20, 2004 2:28 PM
I am sure we could have much fun reviewing the trademark office's representation of historical reality!
By the way, the race is on. I think we can get more comments on this than at Chez Ruk, though his point about winter is more about reality than my mental tick oover the unending superlatives in relation to the place.
Ben - December 20, 2004 2:38 PM
If PEI could be July all of the time but without the tourists, but with all of the tourist money, then it would be the best place I've ever lived. Maybe.
Alan - December 20, 2004 2:51 PM
Also needs better beer. And less wind. And closer to Pennsylvania. Isn't that called Maine?
Arthur - December 20, 2004 3:05 PM
Maybe what they need to do is to offer that job to any of the Americans looking to move out of the USA after this past election.
And move to the PEI??
Ben - December 20, 2004 3:10 PM
Maine has all of that nothingness in the interior. They're just a bunch of space wasters down there.
Alan - December 20, 2004 3:24 PM
Helps when you have no interior to take such an anti-interior posture you anti-interioran you. <p>Me, I love it. There is a presidential highway from Quebec to Portland that is the greatest four-hour down-hill I have ever been on. Plus, that is the only place in the world that could possibly qualify as Greater Canada <i>and</i> it is the source of initial funding for Dalhousie University as, when it was occupied, it was taxed to heck with a chunk going to Dal. There is a little plaque to that effect by the A+A building.
Nils Ling - December 20, 2004 8:37 PM
Ehh ... far as I'm concerned, yez can all hate the hell out of this place. Just means more room for me and less fighting over tee times.
Alan - December 20, 2004 9:12 PM
That would be a "da" of the #2 class, the #1 being [Ed.: <i>Sounds best in a high squeekie yet snobby voice via a sock puppet...</i>] "You obviously don't get it".