Hey folks,

Couple fellas in a university house, and we just finished up our counting for all our cans/bottles since September, wondering if anyone knows if the increase on the Refund has taken affect yet? Could be worth our while to wait a little longer if need be, to get some extra bucks!

Thanks in advance!

Looking for recommendations for someone that can service my air exchanger in the Charlottetown area that is currently not working. TIA!

I know a few people who got the key tag in the mail, alongside a letter asking for donations.

Does anyone know how they'd get people's information? Is this distributed by access PEI on their behalf or are there other ways they might have access to this?

I have no issue with the charity itself - in fact, I think it sounds great, but I do have privacy concerns.

Hello, My daughter and I want to visit PEI this summer. We have only a week (2 travel days and 5 days to spend visiting). I will be renting a car. Are there any recommendations? For lodging base, suggested itinerary, etc. Thanks!

We are residents of BC, but spend 3-5 months a year in PEI. We are considering purchasing a vehicle in PEI that we will keep there for our use when visiting. However, we are being told that a non resident cannot register a vehicle in PEI. This seems odd to us that there would be no mechanism for us to have a vehicle there for our use when visiting. We would appreciate clarification from anyone with insights into this.

Thanks for any assistance anyone can offer.

Nothing says the CBC doesn’t give 2 shits about your story than sending Nancy Russell to cover it

Hi everyone, here are 5 cool things you can do in Charlottetown this week. Please add anything I missed.

5 coolest events this week:

1. The PEI Cocktail Showdown @ restaurants across town
2. Classic Albums Live: The Eagles Greatest Hits @ Confed Centre
3. Charlottetown Islanders vs. Moncton Wildcats @ Eastlink Centre
4. Winterjazz with Nathan Wiley @ Old Triangle
5. Final Week of WinterDine @ restaurants across town

You can also get this as a weekly email, if helpful: https://supcharlottetown.beehiiv.com/

Top 5 details:

1. The PEI Cocktail Showdown

Friday, February 7th to March 2nd. Restaurants across Charlottetown.

Starting this Friday, 19 restaurants across PEI will showcase signature cocktails crafted with island-made spirits from Deep Roots Distillery. Each creation is in the running for the title of PEI’s Favourite Cocktail of 2025. Explore the lineup and discover your new go-to drink. Learn more here.

2. Classic Albums Live: The Eagles Greatest Hits

Saturday, February 8th. Show starts at 7:30 PM. Confederation Centre.

Experience the timeless magic of hearing an album from start to finish. A perennial must-see at Confederation Centre, Classic Albums Live brings The Eagles' Greatest Hits to the stage—note for note, cut for cut. Relive the soundtrack of a generation with one of the best-selling albums in history. Get tickets here.

3. Charlottetown Islanders vs. Moncton Wildcats

Saturday, February 8th. Game starts at 7:00 PM. Eastlink Centre.

The top team in the QMJHL is coming to Charlottetown as the Wildcats (36-8) take on the Islanders (22-22). With over ten NHL prospects hitting the ice, don’t miss your chance to see elite talent in action this Saturday. Get tickets here.

4. Winterjazz with Nathan Wiley

Saturday, February 8th. Show starts at 7:00 PM. The Old Triangle.

Multi-ECMA winner Nathan Wiley brings his signature sound to The Pourhouse, joined by an instrumental jazz quartet for a night of soulful melodies and top-tier musicianship. Admission is $30 cash at the door, with food and drinks available to order. Learn more here.

5. Final Week of WinterDine

Ends Sunday, February 9th. Multiple Restaurants in Charlottetown.

The final week of WinterDine has arrived—your last opportunity to savour expertly crafted 2-course lunches for under $16 and 3-course dinners for under $55. Browse the menus and secure your reservation before it’s too late.

Have a great week everyone!

I understand that if I am renting and my landlord did an improper rent increase during my lease that I can apply for a Return of Rent.

1. What if the rent was improperly increased before my lease?

For example, if I found out after the fact that rent was increased improperly between previous tenants and that my rent should have been lower right from the beginning of my lease, can I still have my rent returned if I can prove it?

2. Is there any way for me to confirm whether my landlord was granted an additional rent increase above the annual allowable amount? Would that burden even be on me to prove that there was no permission granted or would it be on the landlord to provide proof that they were granted the additional increase(s)?

Best local coffee roasters in PEI and where to buy it?

Ontarian here. I usually take an annual road trip the first week of May to the USA. Obviously I won’t be doing that anymore. Looking to come visit PEI but unsure if it’s even a smart time of year to visit. I could alternatively come in July, or October.

My agenda is a dog friendly hiking, sights & sounds and my big goal is to swim in the ocean with my dog - or he can swim alone, he’s a lab it’s fine. May might be a bit ambitious weather-wise.

Open to any suggestions, or alternative timelines. I prefer spring/fall for off season travel since I’ve got the furry +1.

Edit: Thank you all for your insightful responses. I think we’ll postpone our trip until September to make the best of weather & off season.

Does anyone know of a good spot for a very large group to stay? My husband's family wants to do a large family vacation and would be open to a few houses or several cottages within walking distance of each other so we can hang out when the kids go to sleep! We are from NB and there would be likely 7 adults, 4 kids (ages 1-5) from NB going and another 8 adults and 6 kids (ages newborn-11) from New Jersey going (would like to give them the full east coast experience) = 15 adults and 10 kids total.

Please let us know suggestions for places to stay (usually prefer North Rustico/Cavendish areas but open to wherever) and fun activities and restaurants where we could go with such a large group! Thanks in advance. We are in no rush so we will likely try for summer 2026 as I know how fast things book.

What can we expect to see not on the shelves anymore?

Will PEI follow suit and remove USA alcohol from it’s shelves ????

Currently waiting to hear back for a job in PEI. I live close to the bridge in New Brunswick but wondering if I’d have to pay the bridge toll every day? How does that work? Or is it just impossible for NB people to work on PEI and vice versa because of the $50 a day bridge toll fee?

*Dr. Jovan Vuksic - Statement to the Standing Committee on Health and Social Development*

Dear PEI,

I wanted to thank all of you who have taken the time to read my first post 2 weeks ago. To those who have supported me and encouraged me, I appreciate you all so much, and I am grateful to you. To those who disagree with me, and who dislike how I am doing things, I had hoped to be able to answer some of your questions by appearing in front of the Standing Committee on Health and Social Development this past Friday. Unfortunately, I was unable to give the statement I had prepared because I have an open Human Rights Commission Complaint against Health PEI and MSPEI, you can watch the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ledVsvzT2-8&t=277s

I am still hopeful to appear before the committee, because I think that if I am willing to make statements that generate controversy, I should also be willing to answer questions about those statements, and I hope that appearing in front of our MLAs will show those with doubts that I intend to hold myself accountable for those statements. I think it could also be worth having representatives of Health PEI and MSPEI appear at the same time, so that the issues I raise can be addressed directly, in front of the public, so that there is no concern about lack of transparency.

I want to share the 15 minute statement that I had prepared to give to the committee members, and if I am able to appear in front of the committee, we can get straight to a discussion and nobody will be able to argue that they were unprepared for anything that I have to say:

Good morning everyone, and thank you for inviting me here today.

I’d like to start by introducing myself to the committee. My name is Jovan Vuksic, and I am a Pediatrician by training. I grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia for my post-secondary education. I was a member of the UBC Medicine Class of 2011, and I graduated receiving scholarships for excellence in Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Obstetrics and Gynecology. I completed a General Pediatrics Residency at UBC and entered general practice in 2015. For 7.5 years I did a mix of clinic work and hospital care. I was a Clinical Instructor at UBC Medical School, and I have taught hundreds of students and residents during the 11.5 years of my residency and early career.

In late 2021, I had a series of traumatic cases at work. Over the next 2 months, I began having panic attacks while working, and I took time away from the hospital to understand my mental health and I was diagnosed with severe burnout and PTSD. I closed my small clinic practice in June 2022 and went off work to recover.

It is a very strange feeling to have a disability that prevents you from doing the job you have been doing for more than a decade. There was a time early on when I was not sure I could continue as a physician. I have worked hard and surrounded myself with an excellent team of mental health professionals, and I am proud to have been cleared for a return to outpatient practice as of September 2023. Throughout my recovery I was commended for being self-aware regarding my mental health, and both the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of PEI have granted me licensure with no conditions. This is the context of my career before my wife and I arrived on PEI. Since then, I have experienced significant barriers to my recovery, and I have been refused employment by Health PEI on the grounds that I am not able to do hospital work due to my disability.

 I have three things I hope to discuss today. The first are gaps in community care, the second are the issues that health care workers face on PEI, and the last is a plea for help to continue running my clinic, which would best be described as a Social Pediatrics practice.

There are gaps in every community, and PEI is no different. I have looked after dozens of patients and consulted with families in the community. I have reviewed needs assessments from community partners and UPEI, and I have followed health care in the news. Through my patients I have had interactions with English and French schools, Child and Family Services, the youth justice system, as well as many other professionals involved in the care of my patients. There is an amazing community caring for marginalized children throughout PEI, but it’s not enough.

There are significant gaps in mental health services. I am most concerned about the lack of trauma-informed care and lack of access to care for marginalized patients. There is a level of fear that I see in people who advocate for themselves, because their experience has been negative, and despite having valid concerns, they are invalidated by the system that is supposed to help them. Those with the most challenging socioeconomic determinants of health have the hardest time accessing care and are most likely to be denied care for various reasons.

Based on needs assessments done by UPEI and CHANCES, care for child and youth mental health and support for learning issues and behaviour issues in schools are the largest gaps identified on PEI. Based on national data, 88.2% of Canadian children are satisfied or very satisfied with their lives. In PEI, that number is 76.5%, the lowest in Canada. Only 51.7% perceived that their health was excellent or very good, also the lowest in the country. When it comes to mental health, only 31.6% of PEI children feel that their mental health is excellent or very good. In this, PEI is the second lowest in the country.

PEI published a Mental Health and Addictions strategy in 2016 stating their vision for the next 10 years:

https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/sites/default/files/publications/peimentalhealthaddictionsstrategy_moving_forward.pdf

I would draw your attention to page 2 of this document which I have provided to you. I will not read every line, but from my experience on PEI, I would say that these same issues remain, despite 9 years having passed.

The second issue I want to raise is based on my own experience here, as I have had some very concerning interactions with the health care system. My biggest concern is the spread of misinformation about my career within Health PEI. I made a submission under the Freedom of Information act, and although a reasonably accurate summary was made of my situation in October 2023, I have found evidence from December onwards that I have been misrepresented. I have asked repeatedly to be involved in meetings around my career and have been repeatedly excluded. I have seen the words “through the grapevine” used by the person with the most influence over my career to express her knowledge of my situation. It seems like it would have been much easier to call or email me, rather than rely on the rumour mill.

I have continually been referred to as the Pediatrician that doesn’t “want” to do call. The Provincial Head of Pediatrics has made a written submission to Health PEI that “Aspecialist(sic) who si(sic) not required to do general pediatrics on-call work presents an immediate threat to the integrity of our acute care coverage.” The last use of the term PTSD is in the summary of the Oct 5 meeting, it has not been used since. Instead, I have been portrayed as a selfish physician who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. My attempts at collaboration have been hindered by the fact that Health PEI employees were instructed not to respond to my phone calls and emails. I tried to give people the benefit of the doubt and waited months for a response to my emails, 2 weeks ago I have found out that people were instructed not to reply to me and were asked to send everything to Medical Affairs. I would like to point out that despite not working for the Health Authority, Medical Affairs was involved in my everyday business, blocking me from billing, instructing the EMR program not to allow me to participate, and blocking me from referring my patients to Pediatric Psychology Services, the public clinic that does early autism assessments.

The recruitment and retention process is seriously broken. There are many stories of physicians who have wanted to come to PEI and have been unable because of the problems with this process. In addition, many physicians are leaving the system in frustration. I share their concerns about rigid policies, lack of patient centred care, inequities in the work environment, lack of flexibility around workload and scheduling, and most of all, a culture of resistance to change where not only are innovators ignored, but they are also labelled as disloyal or “a problem” and face professional consequences.

Health PEI has a rigid on-call policy that has already caused the loss of physicians working in the system and has prevented me from working. They claim that this is in the service of decreasing workload, but they seem to prioritize this over other major contributors to burnout, including institutional rigidity, lack of autonomy, unfair treatment, and a lack of intrinsic reward. In fact, because all people are different, a policy like this inherently creates an inequitable workplace. I do not judge my colleagues for seeing my disability as a threat to the system, this tells me that they are under a lot of stress. I am far more concerned about their health and well-being than I am upset about their conduct. There are many health care workers who are scared to speak up about their concerns, and I can understand why.

I believe that if a health authority assumes complete control of a health care system, that they also assume complete responsibility for every patient and public health care worker who lives on PEI. It appears to me that Health PEI is very good at taking control of things, but also very good at deflecting responsibility, often onto their front-line workers and all too often onto patients.

I would like to take a moment to talk to advocate for the introduction of independent physician practices to PEI. Small independent practices would add significantly to the health care system on PEI. Physicians who run their own small practices have burnout rates of 13%, as opposed to 54% for those who work for larger organizations. To quote a review article, “small, physician-owned practices, while providing a greater level of personalization and responsiveness to patient needs, have a lower average cost per patient, fewer preventable hospital admissions, and lower readmission rates than larger, independent- and hospital-owned practices.” Finally, independent practice acts as an important balance to the system. If I do not share the values of Health PEI, then I would have the opportunity to create a clinic that runs according to my values. The benefit is that the community will be served by a broader range of values. I have no doubt that many patients can thrive in Health PEI clinics, but I do not think that many of mine will.

Third and finally, my plea for help. After recruitment and retention stopped replying to my emails, I spent the next 6 months doing my own assessment of the situation here. I met with CHANCES and asked if it would be possible to work with them, and they told me that this would upset Health PEI, but that if I could find a way to get funding, they would be happy to have me. I met with the research community, and from these meetings discovered that my areas of strongest interest (Behaviour, mental health, neurodevelopment and social determinants of health) were the most underserved in the community. I have met with dozens of people in the community and found out that they are feeling hopeless. Their children are struggling in a system that demands a diagnosis before they will help you, but they are waiting years to be assessed. There are concerning practices in schools, including isolation, punitive measures and artificial consequences, and I have even heard one story that a child’s legs were strapped to his desk to try to stop his fidgeting. Despair is the best way of describing what I see in my patients.

I returned to practice on Feb 12, 2024, and I have now spent over 1000 hours without pay trying to help the most vulnerable children on PEI. My values are that the patient comes first, and that I serve them. I believe that my job is to empower my patients to take control of their own healthcare journey, to educate them about their right to healthcare, and to help them become their own best advocate. I try my best to base my practice on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and I consider children to be a marginalized group, and neurodiverse children doubly so.

I have been surprised by how many referrals and requests I have received, and I have had to close my wait list for the time being because the demand for my services is high, and my future here is not secure. I believe that I have a good reputation amongst the schools, the group homes, the justice system, the research community, and most importantly my patients feel cared for and heard. I feel that Social Pediatrics and the care of Neurodiverse children are gaps on PEI that I can fill, and ideally, my clinic would expand to provide more services to these complex patient populations.

To finish: My clinic is thriving and busier than I can keep up with. My patients are very satisfied with my care. I am filling some of the biggest gaps identified within the community.

If I can re-open my wait list, I will be booked until 2026. I am not here out of desperation; I’ve been recruited to 4 other provinces in the last month. I want to be here.

I would ask you to explain to my patients why the clinic I just described is about to close. Why is there such an aversion to independent physicians on PEI? And what are you going to do about your incredibly dysfunctional health authority that has responded to my need for help with a coordinated effort to block me from working? Do you consider me to be a “threat to the integrity of the system”, or a much-needed care provider that will help islanders for years to come?

Sincerely,

Dr. Jovan Vuksic

I am not the only one with concerns about these issues that I raise, here are some articles that speak to the same topics for additional information:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-cupe-health-care-public-private-1.7445473 (2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-mental-health-funding-1.7413883 (Dec 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-mental-health-involuntary-patients-auditor-general-report-1.7397006 (Nov 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-psychiatric-hospital-mental-health-campus-delayed-1.7342302 (Oct 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-youth-health-survey-1.7318671 (Sept 2024)

https://www.childandyouthadvocatepei.ca/sites/www.childandyouthadvocatepei.ca/files/Ensuring%20the%20Right%20of%20all%20Island%20Children%20package%20for%20website.pdf (August 2024)

https://www.childandyouthadvocatepei.ca/sites/www.childandyouthadvocatepei.ca/files/Response%20to%20Draft%20Inclusive%20Aeducation%20Action%20Plan.pdf (July 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-psychiatric-mental-health-addictions-hillsborough-1.7219872 (May 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-cupe-health-workers-end-negotiations-1.7170727 (April 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-unpaid-health-care-worker-retention-bonus-1.7144504 (March 2024

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-police-mental-health-crisis-1.6871905 (June 2023)

https://www.childandyouthadvocatepei.ca/sites/www.childandyouthadvocatepei.ca/files/FINAL%20OCYA%20Submission%20with%20Cover%2002.23.22.pdf (Feb 2022)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-health-board-meeting-1.6139568 (Aug 2021)

So anyways.. where's the cornerstone for the Hon. George Coles building? I was there, smashed af, looking for the old timey cornerstone to no avail..just about 20 min ago. It's 1:55 now. literally if you go there now you'll see my footprints go around the building and I left my initials. Help I'm found dumb. . .

So this month's Cove Journal column in The Buzz mentioned in passing that people kept emus/ostriches as livestock on PEI. How can this be mentioned so subtly without elaborating?

What's the deal with Island emus? When did it go out of style?

Hello everyone, just wondering how much is it to rent a one bedroom in downtown, charlottetown, and where to find it. I checked on craiglist but nothing, any other websites? And also i wanna ask if you can live without a car there, Thanks!

As the title says, I’ve heard that businesses in Prince Edward Island are charging international individuals for permanent residency (PR). They pay upwards of $40,000, and in return, the business hires them and gives their PR.

Please be aware, and if you’re a victim of this, please come forward. Pizza Pizza in Halifax was busted for this, and it’s such a scummy thing to do to people.

By “heard,” I mean I know international individuals who personally know more than a few people who have paid for PR (essentially, paying for a job). In most cases, they perform the job without pay.