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Since 1969

Panther Prints

University of Prince Edward Island

November 26, 1996

U.P.E.L

Conservatives Win Provincial Election

By Julie Clow

“We started knocking on doors and ended up ramming them down,” the new Premier of Prince Edward Island shouted to the crowd at the victory party held in the Charlottetown Hotel. On Monday night, November 18, Pat Binns was elected in what is to be the first Tory govern- ment on PEI in ten years. Hense, the slogan, “Time fora Change.’

The Progressive Con- servatives swept eighteen seats out of the available twenty- seven, leaving the Liberals with only eight seats and the New Democrats with the re- maining one -- gaining their

first seat in Island history. “Last spring we were confident that we would take the election. However, it was hard to keep momentum up during the summer months. Once the campaign started again this fall, the confidence was regained,” said Binns when asked to comment on his opinion of the campaign. The Conservative cam- paign held a major focus on post-secondary education, with three main goals in sight for UPEI’s university and col- leges. First, they intend to go to the private sector to “get back some of what you have given them.” This means structuring groups to secure scholarships and bursaries.

In Memoriam: Joseph A. Ghiz

Joseph A. Ghiz, former Premier and justice of the Supreme Court of PEI passed away Saturday, November

9, 1996.

In a state funeral, the first one held on PEI since

1954, Islanders and prominent federal politicians paid their respects to Ghiz. Active up to the end ofhis life, Ghiz cast his vote in the general election by advance ballot, from his wheelchair just three days before he died. Leone Bagnall, retired Progressive Conservative MLA summed up the loss of Ghiz in his statement to The Guardian. “He was a strong voice for unity, for Canada, one of the strongest we ever had. I don’t hear that kind of voice out there anymore. His was the kind of voice that people listened to...he had that ability.”

Ghiz was born in Charlottetown in 1945, attended Prince of Wales College, received his Bachelor of Com- merce and law de in Halifax, his Masters from Harvard University, and in 1986 became Premier of PEI.

After six years in the Premier’s office, 3 1/2 as leader of the Opadation, and a Supreme Court judgeship Joseph A. Ghiz away after his battle with colon cancer. He will be sorely missed by friends and foe alike.

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This campaign will be centred in Ontario, Quebec and the regional office in Halifax. The intention is to get as much money as possible to help stu- dents finance their education. Binns claims there will be no strings attached or special ac- cess as the corporation is al- ready benefiting from stu- dents. (Think back to the Kraft Dinner statement at the Lead- ership Debate at Robertson Library).

The second goal of the campaign is to maintain stu- dent fees and tuition levels. Binns says he can make no promises as far as this goes, as they have not finished their study of the financial situation of post-secondary schools. No predictions onthe economy of the Island can be made until their study is done.

The newest idea that Binns has, is the multi-year funding program. If installed, this program will give students a projection of what they will be paying as far as tuition and fees go for up to four years. This plan will aid in student planning fortheir post-second- ary education.

Binns also made brief comments on the small school issue on PEI. “The problem is they [Island schools] are ei- ther under populated to the point of being uneconomical, or overcrowded to the point of being unsafe.” Binns also ex- pressed concern as small schools are often the centre of small communities and if lost, could take away from the Is- land way of life. He plans to

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tackle the issue on an indi- vidual basis, and then incor- porate it into one overall strat- egy to save them.

The new Premier says that education is a main prior- ity for his government. He feels that it is vital that the Island has a well educated work force for the future. He

concerned with the future of their families. He says that he plans to work closely with the other ministers to alleviate this concern.

All in all, Binns is very excited by the victory. He had hoped that they would have broken through in the West Prince area, but is pleased with

Premier Designate Pat Binns

is interested in setting up a program to aid university and college graduates in starting up small businesses on the Is- land as this would keep youth here and cut down on the ne- cessity to leave PEI to find work,

“Jobs are the big goal,” Binns says, adding that with cutbacks in Unemployment Insurance more people are

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the three of a possible nine seats that they did get. Many saw the West end of the Island as being under Liberal domi- nation.

“TI think people were looking for a government that would stand up for them in Ottawa, and that has a clear vision for the future. We’ve got that vision and that is what we are going to give them.”

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