With 73 municipalities in PEI that only cover 30 percent of our Island, how can we expect rural PEI to be strong? We can’t. Many municipalities lack the capacity for local planning and strategic decision-making. These are essential for shaping a better future.
If fixing municipal boundaries was easy it would have been done decades ago. If it had been done then, our rural service centres would be larger and better positioned to provide services and amenities that help attract new businesses and jobs. More of our countryside would be just that – countryside. Instead we have ribbon development along rural roads. This has negatively impacted our Island in many ways, including driving up the cost of public services.