Q & A with Summerside's Mayor Basil Stewart

                             

In your opinion, is it important for everyone who can vote to get out and vote on November 03^rd?

It is very important. We live in a democracy and we have 160,000 thousand Canadians in

graves overseas who have died fighting for freedom in the world wars and there were many others that were injured fighting for freedom, so its important to vote no matter who you decide you want to vote for. My Dad was a veteran and said to me, “Basil, as long as I am well enough, I will crawl to the poles if I have to and vote because of our freedom and the price that we payed to have it.”

I believe we are living in the best corner of the world. Some countries have one name on the ballet, so it is very important to vote. Watch the International news tonight and see how many places in the world where it would not be comfortable to live. Where they have an army in their streets, bombs, hurricanes, diseases, and starvation. You know that's the world we are living in and if we narrow it down to Summerside, if someone has a pot whole it's not a serious problem compared to what other places in the world are dealing with. Winston Churchill made a comment, he said, “Every people get the government they deserve.”

If they elect a good bunch of people, they deserve that and if they elect people that are not capable of doing it, they deserve that because they put them there. So its important to vote and to know who you are voting for, read their background and what they are for and what they are against. The percentage of eligible voters coming out to cast their vote in Municipal Elections usually averages around 60% to 65 % and although I understand that people who are away or not well obviously can't make it to the poles, I can't understand why everyone else wouldn't want to vote. 

Are there any modes of transportation set up for folks who have mobility issues and no transportation?

Well in my case, we will be providing transportation for people who want to go and vote and depending on what the disability, if they need a wheelchair van we will call one of those. Every pole in the city is suppose to be accessible.

Having served the people and the City of Summerside for 29 years, what would you say are your top 3 highlighted experiences?

I might add a few words to that because I served the people for 14 or so years as a

Police Officer before that. So on November the 3^rd, the day of the election, it will be 43 years since I moved to Summerside. I served the people as a Police Officer and as Mayor and along with that I had 35 years in the housing business. I think I am just one tooth in the cog and I work with the other two orders of government and council.

Now to answer your question. The west end had been bothering people for 75 years and was unsightly but now with the West End Redevelopment Project, we have a beautiful boardwalk. It is lighted now and there is a person-made beach and as a result of that, the area on the other side of the street and newly developed property there have become more valuable and that 200 acres out past the west end is now starting to be developed. That was a great accomplishment. Another is our Credit Union Place. We have the best recreation facility East of Montreal and it is not just for recreation, it's to help the economy of Summerside by bringing in the Elton Johns and others and that brings new money into the city and it's a great promotion for our city.The GST Centre, has a soft spot in my heart. When the base closure was announced I tried to get that tax centre for Summerside and it is nice to go by there now and see 1,500 people at peak time. As a result of that of course, the development of the former base into a Aerospace PEI, there other businesses out there too, and the Atlantic Police Academy. There are more people working at the base now then when the base was there. So that too was a great project.We worked with the wind farm, and that has been another successful project. We got financial assistance from the other two orders of government, got it in place, and the wind farm made a big profit last year. There is a whole lot of new streets and new sidewalks downtown. We upgraded our electric utility in the city. It's an industry right in the city. The jobs are here and anything we need for the city, we purchase locally. We had to replace our City Hall. It was built in 1883 and had very little work done on it over the years, so we made a decision a number of years ago to renovate the old one and put a piece on to it and the new design is similar to the 1883 architecture. We are in the processes now to get a new fire hall as our fire hall is out dated and we need a new fire hall in the city. Read's corner was a problem here for years but we worked with the other two orders of government to put in a new set of traffic lights. We renovated the Police Station and added to it. We did some work on public works buildings and we got to do some work on Central street and the Pope intersection. There is a whole big long list and I can't narrow it down to the top three because they're all important.

In closing, of course I would appreciate your support but regardless of who you vote for it is important to get out and vote because we can and we have a choice.  

Reporters: Joey Blacquiere and Joni Miner

Q & A with Adam Binkley

Can you tell us about the “Strengthening Families Program”?

The “Strengthening Families Program” is a National Crime Prevention initiative that (so far) has chosen our organization. We still have to dot our i's and cross our t's, but our initial application has been approved. The whole idea around the “Strengthening Families Program” is to reduce addictions and substance abuse among youth in the City of Summerside.  The program would be a four-year initiative that would equip us to pay for six to eight qualified trained employees. They would then provide the services needed to families who are struggling with similar issues.

What sort of services will be provided?

The first thing they will do is 'break bread.'  There will be a brand new industrial kitchen in our Youth Engagement Centre where youth and their families (guided by employees) are going to make supper. We will provide all the ingredients, everything that the families and the youth will need in order to work together to make a meal. Once supper is cooked, youth and families will have a sit-down meal and as they are eating there will naturally be conversation, so they will be building upon their communication skills as they talk about their days. When we eat we are happy and it changes the atmosphere. A meal is a great foundation to kick-start the program. After they eat, they will do some cleaning up and then be broken up into groups. The youth go in one area and the parents and guardians go in another area to be assisted by support workers. In their individual groups they will work on curriculum that will help them build resiliency and communication. They will be building skills to help them be able to address situations in order to reduce the chance of using prescription pills, alcohol, etc. and put that energy instead towards achieving their goals.

Why is it so important for youth and their parents and caregivers to work together in this program?

A lot of programs we had researched separate the two, so it is either the parents or the youth that are getting help. Through the “Strengthening Families Program” we want to build up effective communication to keep families together, thus the strengthening of families. Through this program, youth and their families will be working together, breaking any barriers that exist because the youth will know they have their parents backing them. To be successful it is important to have the strength you get from your family. There will be a strong focus on belonging within our engagement centre.  Everybody needs to belong to something, it creates a better chance of youth being able to overcome obstacles and achieve goals. You could almost call the Engagement Centre a "belonging centre" because that is what we want to focus on.

How will the twenty youth be selected?

Referrals will go out to groups across Summerside and maybe even outside of Summerside and they would refer families and their youth who are struggling with addiction issues. Then twice a week they would meet at our Youth Engagement Centre with our staff. Our hope is that it will be a community hub for different agencies that are already doing amazing things with the youth and their families. Our youth engagement centre is going to be a place where youth, their families, and the different agencies can all focus together, and the youth can get help from different supports systems in the one centre. It's great to have our eyes opened to other programs that are already in existence and if you can engage them in what you're doing, then you've got the best of both worlds.

Why are you opting for a day program and not an overnight program?

Little steps. The biggest thing we want to do is offer structured evening programs for families. Down the road, as we see fit, we would like to expand to a survival centre and make an overnight program that offers life skills, washers and dryers, and showers. It would be great to have a facility for youth who are having issues with couch surfing and homelessness but we believe that we need to get the “Strengthening Families Program” and the youth engagement project up and going first and then down the road we would branch into that program area.  I agree with you, there is a definite need for the overnight programs even though you don't see it in Summerside as much as you do the other cities. Couch surfing definitely exists. But here at the Boys and Girls Club, we go one step at a time so, with the Youth Engagement Centre we are already undertaking a huge step with the “Strengthing Families Program.”  We are also going to offer the “Rogers Raising the Grade,” which provides education and awareness.  We are going to also add to our programs and services a bullying program, which we hope will provide the education and the skills needed to eliminate the program down the road with an overnight program. But, like I said, we have to take things one step at a time.

Do you have any plans in place to rase the rest of the $150.0000 that you will need?

I am glad you asked that question. Right now we are in the middle of the Aviva campaign. Last year we came in second and received five thousand dollars through Aviva. This year we are aiming for one hundred thousand dollars. We are setting our hopes high! Currently,I think we in fourteenth place which is pretty neat over all. I think we need to be in the top twenty to move onto the second phase. The best thing about Aviva is the exposure that we are getting with the Youth Engagement Centre.  We have had such huge support from the City of Summerside granting us the right to build an addition onto the property purchased. In January we are going to kick off a Capital fundraising campaign. Our goal will be to generate an additional $10,000 with that and it's definitely reachable, as well we will continue our fundraising with our gold rush.

Are you looking for community volunteers to assist with the fundraising?

Yes. We will be putting out a call for volunteers, whether it be canvassing or other fundraisers that we come up with. We try to direct our fundraisers now towards being experience events, like “Race for Kids” where they participate in part of the Amazing Race.  With these types of fundraising events, whether the kids win it or not, they enjoy themselves.  In January, we are looking at doing a fundraising hockey game that's going to help the Youth Engagement Centre. It's a secret right now but hopefully I'll be announcing the details soon!

Here's another way people can volunteer:  what we really need is for our youth to speak up and speak out. Whether through websites or through Facebook, they can give testimonials stating how badly we need this Youth Engagement Centre. It doesn't have to be a personal testimony. It could be just to share how a friend is a couch surfer and doesn't have a place to wash their clothes.

People say for them to get out and get a job but you have to have the skills to do that and the ability to put a resume together and without clean clothes, good social skills and no resume it's hard to get a job.

What organizations and businesses have come on board to support you?

Good question. First of all, APM with Tim Banks has donated $50, 000 in services rendered to help create and do the planning. Tim Banks is also involved with Killam Properties Inc. and Killam Properties Inc. is donating fifty thousand dollars in cash. The Summerside Rotary Club have come onboard with sixty thousand dollars and a couple of years ago we received twenty thousand from the Future Shop and we still have that tucked away.  So you can see we're talking about huge organizations and businesses who want to be identified with what we are doing.

Is there an official name for the facility ?

For now it is the Youth Engagement Centre. It's too soon to choose an official name yet.

Why do you believe the Youth Engagement Centre is needed here in Summerside?

We have amazing staff and they are doing an unbelievable job meeting the needs of 300 children daily from the ages of 4 to 12. So they start here at age 4 and for eight years they have huge role models and they have a place where they feel they belong. What happens when they turn 13 years old? We need a place for these 13, 14, 15, and 16 year olds to go and that's a huge job. We also need a place for our youth to be able to go to that offers them structured programming, tools to be able to handle the decision-making that comes at them during a critical time in life. At 13, 14, 15 – you are faced with everything from cigarettes and alcohol to drugs. You need to be strong enough to make proper decisions -- decisions that could change your whole life the moment you make them. We need somewhere for our club members to go when they hit the 13, 14, and, 15 mark. 

http://ssidebgclub.com/

https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf19759