King commits to new premier’s office in Summerside, revival of SRDC

SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Summerside will quickly be dwelling to the province’s second premier’s workplace.

P.E.I. Premier Dennis King mentioned he’ll be establishing store within the metropolis throughout the subsequent couple of months.

King made the announcement Wednesday, Oct. 19, throughout his annual breakfast with Summerside’s enterprise and political leaders, hosted by the Higher Summerside Chamber of Commerce.

King mentioned he has lengthy been requested by each neighborhood leaders and residents of the Prince County space for simpler entry to provincial management, and opening a second workplace within the province’s second metropolis will hopefully go a great distance in direction of addressing these considerations.

“I feel it’s lengthy overdue that the federal government had a strong presence right here from the manager stage,” mentioned King. “It’s extra simply round ensuring the area and Summerside, on the whole, is appreciated for the complete extent that it must be and has that entry to govt energy. I’m completely satisfied to do this.”

King famous that almost each different province has related places of work in communities outdoors of their capitals. Such areas are utilized by the premiers and govt councils as a base of operations whereas conducting enterprise within the space and people leaders would make an effort to work from these places of work often.

King mentioned the small print of this initiative are nonetheless being labored out, however he hoped the workplace might be up and working within the quick time period.

Reviving SRDC

A brand new workplace wasn’t the one information King introduced with him to the breakfast desk.

He additionally reiterated his authorities’s intention to revive the defunct Summerside Regional Improvement Company (SRDC).

That initiative was initially side-tracked by the COVID-19 pandemic, mentioned King, however he now expects ahead momentum on it once more. Although, no timeframe was forthcoming as it’s early days within the course of.

“Having labored in authorities earlier than, I understand how invaluable (regional improvement firms) are and the way nimble they are often to get initiatives accomplished, or began, which might be necessary to a neighborhood,” mentioned King.

SRDC operated from 1971 to 2017 and was concerned in lots of initiatives through the years, together with rejuvenating the Holman Constructing and the alternative of the outdated west-end seawall with Inexperienced’s Shore seaside and Summerside Baywalk boardwalk. Nevertheless, close to the tip of its life, the SRDC confronted criticism over its lack of latest initiatives and there was concern that its focus had shifted from its authentic mandate of helping with progressive improvement initiatives, to be extra of a property supervisor for the belongings it already owned.

The earlier Liberal authorities of Wade MacLauchlan determined each the SRDC and the Charlottetown Space Improvement Company (CADC) had outlived their usefulness and shuttered them each, to get replaced by a sequence of regional financial improvement advisory councils.

When King was elected as premier in 2019, he vowed to deliver again each improvement firms. Solely the CADC was finally revived because it wasn’t as far alongside within the shutdown course of as SRDC, which had already divested its belongings.

“We’re sort of ranging from scratch right here, the place CDAC we sort of pulled from the ashes,” mentioned King. “(However) I’m glad we’re again to some extent now the place we are able to get that going.”

Summerside Chamber of Commerce president Blake Doyle welcomed King’s dedication to each opening a second premier’s workplace and the re-establishment of the SRDC.

“Summerside has been at a bit of little bit of a aggressive drawback to our sister metropolis, Charlottetown,” mentioned Doyle. “They do have that financial improvement entity (CDAC) to assist create infrastructure and promote the institution of enterprise. Summerside has been denied that. To have the SRDC reestablished goes to only be an extra catalyst to enterprise progress.”

Colin MacLean is a reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He may be reached by electronic mail at [email protected] and adopted on Twitter @JournalPMacLean.