Trail Walk episode #12 (Charlottetown)

In the morning at 9:00 am, of June the 1st we will gather at the Royalty Junction of the Charlottetown Confederation Trail.  We have invited other persons and groups to join us as we progress along the trail  from the start point (Royalty Junction) to the city (8 Km).  We estimate that our walk will bring us to the UPEI area at approximately 10:00 am. and probably arriving at the Founder’s Hall. (the end of the Charlottetown Trail) at approximately 11:00 am.

We have invited the Premier, Robert Ghiz, and all MLAs to join us as we continue to bring awareness of a great need in PEI for a Strategy to Eradicate Poverty.

 COPY OF THE LETTER

May 27, 2010

Honourable Robert Ghiz,

Premier of Prince Edward Island

Dear Premier Ghiz,

Greetings to you on this beautiful May day. I’m not sure if you are aware that a group of Islanders are walking from Tignish to Elmira in support of a Poverty Eradication Strategy. The group, comprised mainly of the members of the Christian Living Community, is part of the Poverty Eradication Coalition founded by the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice and Poverty Bites. They understand how important it is to make Islanders aware that the province will hold public hearings – hopefully by the end of summer or early fall. They also want to raise public awareness of the importance of P.E.I. establishing a Poverty Eradication Strategy.

Besides the human suffering of those in poverty the whole population of the province is affected as poverty is costing a great deal financially and in other ways. In January 2011, at the request of the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice and Poverty Bites, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Nova Scotia, produced a research paper entitled, Cost of Poverty in Prince Edward Island. Their findings were quite startling. Their estimate, which they stated was on the conservative side, placed the cost at about $1,720 and $2,265 per person per year, using the Market Basket Measure (MBM). This measure suits the reality of Atlantic Canada much better than the Low Income Cut Off (LICO) measure. Those figures illustrate that the collective cost is between $240 and $329 million per year, or 5% to 7% of GDP. The authors, Angella MacEwan and Dr. Christine Saulnier conclude that the cost of poverty can be seen in four major areas, health, crime costs, intergenerational costs and productivity losses, all of which they costed in their paper.

The Poverty Eradication walkers will be at Royalty Junction at 9:00 am on Wednesday, June 1. They will be met by a number of supporters and potential walkers. We ask you to join us at 9:00 am at Royalty Junction and offer some words of encouragement. We ask your office to pass on this invitation by e-mail to all Members of the Legislative Assembly. We are also inviting the media to attend the event.

We would be grateful if you could let us know if you will be present. Some of The walkers will continue to Founder’s Hall following the stop at Royalty Junction and they expect to be there at 11:00 am.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Mary Boyd

For the Poverty Eradication Coalition

Tel: 892-9074

maryboyd@live.ca

Trail Walk episode # 10

It's a lovely morning as we arrive in Hunter River to begin another day of our journey on the trail. David McIsaac and Leah Michaud are ready to go.

David and Leah cheerfully wave farewell as they head for their destination for the day, Royalty Center a distance that will be 22 Km.

We find it interseting how the trail will offer us a view that goes on for a long distance and at other times it is filled with many curves.

May is normally a time for dandelions but we are ammazed at the fields that are overly thick with dandelions this year.

"Look at the heavens:how beautiful they are!

And look at the Earth:  how beautiful it is!

Both heaven and Earth radiate beauty!"

St. Augustine

Leah and David arrive in Milton, the handover point for the day. It's time for Leah to pass on the walking stick to Gilles.

The bridge railing are a welcome site as David leans on them to rest his weary legs....but the benches that are along the trail also give us the opportunity to rest.

There are many rivers and creeks that are winding their way toward the ocean.

As we approach the ourskirts of the city of Charlottetown we encounter a young mother and father enjoying the sunny afternoon with their two children.

We finally arrive at the Royalty Junction Road and Gilles is exhausted. Unfortunately there are 2 more Kms to go for our pick up at Brackley Point Road.

This will be our start point tomorrow.

Trail walk episode # 11

It's 8:30 am, Monday morning, 30th May. David and Leah are ready to begin their walk from the Brackley Point Road.

What is this? Somebody has left a meal of peanuts on a stump of a tree for the chipmunks or squirrels.

There are always the small backyard farms that we occasionally come upon. This one has a small pond with ducks enjoying a swim on a sunny day.

We arrive in York and David is happy to see that we are heading in the right direction.

It's 10:30 am and Leah and David arrive in Suffolk. The sun has come out in full force during the course of our walk and it is now 20 C. We have been attacked by black flies and mosquitoes along our 11 Km walk.

The switch is made. Gilles Michaud replaces Leah and our steadfast David motors on heading toward Tracadie, 10 Km ahead.

A small peat bog along the side of the trail is a sign of a very interesting eco

 system on our island.

David and Gilles arrive in Tracadie at 12:30 pm. We are exhausted mostly because in our last leg of the walk today, we were attacked by many hungry and vicious mosquitoes.

Trail Walk episode # 9

Its a beautiful sunny morning as we arrive in Breadalbane at 9 am. The walkers for the day have come from as far as O'Leary, Enmore, Tyne Valley, and Millvale....they are David McIsaac, Donna Grant, Leah Michaud, Beulah and Bill Costain.

A friendly wave as the walkers depart on the trail heading to Hunter River, a distance of 17 km.

The trail has its moments of ugliness....open shale pit 

moments of historical sites:

and  moments of pristine beauty.

The record high temperature of 22 C. has made it a more difficult walk but Leah and Beulah are determined to reach their destination for the day, Hunter River.

The walkers arrive in Hunter River and are met by Wayne Easter, Federal MP for Malpeque.

We can't resist inviting Wayne for a group photo and having him put on our Eradication of Poverty in PEI sign as his commitment to help us to move forward in our strategy.

We take the time to walk about the Heritage Park admiring the rich history of Hunter River.

The legacy of Dr. Kent G. Ellis

The History of Hunter River.

This is our official arrival point for today. We will depart from this point in the morning.

Trail Walk episode #8

After a day of rest we are ready to go on with our trail walk. It'sThursday morning in Kensington as we meet at the old railroad station with the town clock indicating 8:20 am.

We are joined with an experienced trail walker, Carol Evans,who encourages David McIsaac to continue on the Confederation Trail walk for the Eradication of Poverty on PEI.

Leah Michaud, Carole Evans, join David McIsaac on our next leg from Kensington to our new destination for the day, Breadalbane. Carole tells us that she will be with us for the next 5 Kms.

We wave farewell to our walkers as they leave the gates of Kensington.

Today is a bright and sunny day, our walkers are joined with the trees and their colorful leaves that are showing signs of new life.

A pleasant surprise as we come upon a small backyard pen that gives shelter to several Canada Geese.

After several wet days the farmers are taking advantage of this sunny time and are out on the fields busy planting

potatoes. David hopes that their harvest will be good and offers them a just and fair wage for their labor.

Nature seems to offer us moments whereby one must stop long enough to take in the grandeur of creation.

 It has been 8 days of walking on the Confederation Trail.Tignish seems to be so far away as David is overjoyed at having reached the halfway mark to our destination in Elmira.

Leah and David arrive in Emerald at 12 noon. They are surprised to notice that their walk has only taken 2:30 hours from Kensington.

In Emerald we are met by Heinz Mayr, a former Trail Officer who still enjoys cycling the Confederation Trail and continues to enjoy cycling a total 2,500 to 3,000 kms per year.

As we leave Emerald, Gilles replaces Leah for the last leg of the daily walk that will bring us to Breadalbane.

The wild strawberry flowers are plentiful along the trail.

It is now 1:00 pm as we arrive in Breadalbane. Our walk for today has taxed our weary body but we are happy to have walked a total 21.5 Km.

Tomorrow morning, Friday 27 May, we plan on leaving Breadalbane, heading toward Milton.

Trail Walk episode # 7

Its Tuesday morning in Summerside the walkers are ready to head toward Kensington on the Confederation Trail.

Before departure Leah Michaud, Donna Grant, and David will need to check their survival gear.... it could be a rough day with forecated heavy rain and strong winds.

The Eradication Poverty Flyers are made ready. They are an important part of our walk as they need to be handy to be passed out to people that we anticipate meeting on the trail.

Once again, we wave farwell to our courageous walkers.

Its a cold and wet day...but we are ready to survive all the elements...nearly!

Today has been a greater challenge with winds as high 60 kls but we made it to Kensington.

We take time to explore the site of the old railroad. David is walking the tracks as he once did many years ago.

David can't resist climbing up on the old locomotive while Leah reminds him that he is not supposed to do that.

We finally find a resting place for our tired old bodies.

Tomorrow will be a day of rest for all of us. On Thursday, 26 May, we plan on departing from Kensington and head toward Freetown and maybe a little further.