Cynthia King

The decision to include safer pathways for cyclists and pedestrians along Riverside Drive and University Ave. in Charlottetown is welcomed with open arms! This represents a real beginning to making PEI a safer place. As a member of the cycling community on PEI, I have been working hard to push the safety agenda, which includes the helmet law and safe pathways.

Now the work begins to educate and promote safe riding for cyclists and motorists. Real lessons on how to share the road.

Below is a video produced by The Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Transit Authority. Great tips for sharing the road:

Share the Road – Buses and Bicycles from Chicago Bicycle Program on Vimeo.

In case you missed this release by the PEI Literacy Alliance back in March of 2008:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2008

PEI ranks near bottom in health literacy

This is the conclusion of the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA)’s Expert Panel on Health Literacy.  Their report spotlights health literacy in Canada and the picture is troubling.  The situation is serious and costly.

Health Literacy is the ability to get, understand and use information for health.

Catherine O’Bryan, Executive Director of the PEI Literacy Alliance, knows that literacy and health literacy are closely linked.  “I wasn’t surprised to read that education levels are a key determinant of health literacy. What is surprising is that reading every day is the most important activity to improve health literacy.”

The CPHA report says that 62% of Islanders have low health literacy, which puts PEI 11th among Canada’s 13 provinces and territories.  With an aging population and increasing incidences of chronic disease, the panel says the problem will get worse.

The report recommends that all levels of government need to be involved. Canada should make efforts to:

1. improve literacy and health literacy
2. provide equal opportunities for everyone to develop literacy and health literacy skills
3. improve the systems that provide health information and services to people with all levels of literacy and health literacy

Health literacy is a serious problem. There is momentum for action and many promising initiatives could be strengthened.  Ms O’Bryan agrees there is a strong case for timely action, but we need political will, organizational leadership and strong efforts of practitioners and the public.

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CONTACT: Catherine O’Bryan, PEI Literacy Alliance, 368-3620

The following is today’s release by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The following is distributed by Island Information Service at the request of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Islanders Encouraged to Participate in Family Literacy Activities

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, January 26, 2010 – Wednesday, January 27 has been proclaimed Family Literacy Day in Prince Edward Island by Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Doug Currie.

“Family Literacy Day reminds us of the great things that happen when families read and learn together,” says Minister Currie. “The way that reading is valued and practiced in the home can have more influence on a child’s learning than anything else.”
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is providing  $50,000 this year to support projects that draw families together in activities that foster a love of reading. One of the 24 family literacy grants was recently awarded to a group of Cornwall partners to offer the Spring into Reading program.  With the support of the department, this program has been offered in several Island communities over the years.  It has achieved excellent results in helping children learn to read and in coaching parents to support their children’s literacy development at home.

Spring Into Reading was offered this year to kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2 students and families in Cornwall. The project was a partnership of Cornwall early childhood centres and kindergarten programs, Westwood Primary School, the Westwood Home and School Association, the public library and the Town of Cornwall.  Participants say the project surpassed their expectations to strengthen the children’s literacy skills and the parents’ ability to support their children’s learning.

“Improving literacy in our One Island Community is a key priority of government,” said Minister Currie. “Reading is the foundation skill for all learning.  We are very pleased to support family literacy because it is an important link to a child’s success throughout the school years, to the health of Islanders, and to the future prosperity of the province.”

For information about family literacy programs, contact the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development at www.gov.pe.ca/eecd or the PEI Literacy Alliance at www.pei.literacy.ca.

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For information contact:
Jean Doherty
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
902 368 6449

TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian

A backbench MLA is putting together a private member’s bill proposing to create an ombudsman for the P.E.I. government.
P.E.I. is currently the only province without such an ombudsman, but Stratford-Kinlock MLA Cynthia Dunsford would like to see that rectified.
“(The ombudsman) could take on a lot of different inquiries and different complaints that people might have,” Dunsford said.
“Those calls or complaints can be categorized into alternate kinds of actions that could be taken to help people, which an ombudsman would be able to do very effectively.”
A similar private member’s bill was introduced 10 years ago by former NDP MLA Herb Dickieson. It did not pass but was debated extensively in the legislature and in the end did win the support of seven MLAs in a vote of 13-7. Several members abstained from voting on the issue.
The concerns raised at the time revolved around whether an ombudsman would change the role of MLAs in their dealings with the public.
Dunsford, who has been doing extensive research into the policies enacted by other provinces, said she does not believe such a figure would call into question the role of elected politicians on P.E.I.
Islanders are infamous for calling their MLAs for complaints or concerns both big and small, and that will not change with the addition of an ombudsman, Dunsford said.
“We are always going to get those calls and that’s fine because people generally just need direction and we may be able to help them and that’s a good thing,” she said.
“But there are areas that an MLA should not be looking into or can’t look into. There are limitations to what we can do and how we can help and it’s very frustrating as an MLA and somebody calls you with an issue that you can’t really get involved in because it would be something that would be seen as interference — because we’re political figures, we’re not bureaucrats.”
The addition of a provincial government ombudsman was a promise made by the Liberals during the 2007 election campaign, but on Thursday Premier Robert Ghiz said such a new position would be an added expense the province may not be able to afford right now.
But he didn’t rule it out as a future possibility.
“As we know, there was a bit of a financial downturn in the world economy over the last year or so,” Ghiz said.
“This probably won’t be happening this year, but we’ll definitely be looking for it for the year after as a definite possibility.”
Dunsford said her private member’s bill is not ready to be tabled during this session of the legislature anyway, as she is still conducting research and comparing the practices and policies of ombudsman in other provinces.
“This is something that will still require a fair bit of work,” she said.

THIS is good news!! Congratulations and thank you to the PEI Chapter of the Canadian Cancer Society and The PEI Environmental Health Coalition. Without your help this would not have happened.

TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian