Charlottetown youth report calls for better policing, moving farmers market

Young people in Charlottetown are making a wide variety of recommendations to keep them from leaving the Island, including more police walking the beat, a new community space for artists and a new location for the farmers market.

Half of respondents said they are actively looking for work outside P.E.I.

John Mazerolle · CBC News · Posted: Oct 06, 2016 12:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: October 6, 2016

A new report looks at the results of a survey on why young people leave P.E.I. (Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock)

Those are some of the 18 suggestions in a report released Thursday by the city's Youth Retention Advisory Board, which launched a survey in January in hopes of discovering why young people are moving out of the province.

Young people leave province for jobs and culture, our readers say

Young people between the ages of 16 and 30 in Charlottetown were asked to take part in the survey, which received almost 800 responses over four weeks. Almost half the respondents said they are actively looking for work outside P.E.I.

Zac Murphy is the co-author of the Youth Retention Advisory Board report. (Sarah MacMillan/CBC)

Board Member and report co-writer Zac Murphy said it's important the issues raised in the survey are dealt with in order to keep young people in Charlottetown.

"I love P.E.I. and I love Charlottetown, so I felt it was important to take part in something like this and try to improve our city," said Murphy.

More consistent taxi drivers

The advisory board was set up by the mayor in 2015 to get young people interested in municipal concerns and to advise council on issues affecting youth. It launched the survey in partnership with Fusion Charlottetown — a non-profit organization that works with young professionals to help shape the city's future.

The recommendations, which include suggestions concerning employment, cost of living, health, safety and transportation, range in scope from small online fixes (adding public transit routes to Google Transit) to broad initiatives ("a better relationship" between city police and the community).

Read the complete report by clicking here

The recommendations include:

A youth council with representatives from all three levels of government.
A number of suggestions related to the internet, including: a public calendar separate from charlottetown.ca that anyone can contribute to; a series of short videos aimed at youth; and a "safe spot" with video monitoring and good lighting for people meeting to complete online transactions.
Several transportation initiatives, including: a park-and-ride program on snow clean-up days; changes to the taxi bylaw to promote consistency in both drivers and prices, and promotion of a car-free day.
Several suggestions about use of city space and buildings. Those include moving the farmers market to the Founders Hall building. "There is currently no grocery store in the downtown core, and this location would be a high-traffic area during the summer months with all the foot traffic from the cruise ships," the report says. "There could also be a space in the building used as an arts collective space, used for bands to practise, artists to create, and the hosting of chem-free [drug- and alcohol-free] events/shows."

Founders Hall was recently shut down due to lack of interest. Youth in Charlottetown say the Charlottetown Farmers Market on Belvedere Avenue should be moved to Founders Hall, one of 18 recommendations contained in a new report. (Charlottetown Area Development Corporation/Canadian Press)

Mayor Clifford Lee said he hopes the suggestions in the report will be used in a retention strategy.

Lee said a lack of consistent taxi fares is an issue he's heard about a lot recently and something he is committed to working on.

"Something needs to happen because we can't allow the young people to be charged anywhere from $7 to $20 depending on who's driving the car tonight," said Lee.

Murphy said when the board looked into the taxi bylaws, it discovered they hadn't been updated since 2008.

P.E.I. population growing

The survey was shared with students at both Charlottetown senior high schools, Holland College and the University of Prince Edward Island as well as youth organizations. The board's first major initiative, it was also available on the city's website.

Though the province has shown concerns about youth out-migration, P.E.I.'s population has been growing. Population estimates for July 1 of this year show the province's population grew 1.3 per cent in the previous 12 months, double the rate of growth in Nova Scotia, and slightly higher than the national rate.