The Guardian (Charlottetown)
‘SECRET’ MEETING LED TO HOWE BRIDGE DEAL
The key piece of the puzzle that saw Canada pay the entire bill for the Gordie Howe International Bridge — thus allowing the massive project to proceed — came at a secret meeting. At least, it was supposed to be secret. In an interview with Postmedia...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CHEERING FOR CANADA
All decked out in their Canadian attire, from left, Treena Doucette, Jill Lantz, Karen Watts and Debbie Lamont, cheer on Canada in the gold medal women’s hockey game at the Olympic Winter Games. The U.S. claimed gold and Canada silver in the game,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Lobster fishing MLA trapped by rules
Public statements from P.E.I.’S newest cabinet minister and from Premier Rob Lantz about altering the province’s conflict of interest laws, as well as seeking an exception to federal fishing policies, have drawn a rebuke from the P.E.I. Fishermen’s...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
P.E.I. is building ‘resiliency’
SUMMERSIDE Premier Rob Lantz brought a message of economic optimism in the face of adversity to a packed house of business leaders in Summerside. Lantz, who secured the provincial PC leadership and, by extension, the office of premier just last week,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FINDING AND CLOSING GAPS
P.E.I. will start collecting voluntary race and ethnicity information from residents applying for or renewing their P.E.I. health cards, beginning April 1. The race and ethnicity data collection project is being led by the provincial Department of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
JACK FROST FUN
People enjoy a horse and wagon ride at the Jack Frost Winterfest in Charlottetown. Activities for the annual children’s winter festival took place during the Islander Day weekend with events for passholders at Mark Arendz P.E.I. Provincial Ski Park in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
70 YEARS OF EASTER SEALS
Della Parker, left, chair of the 2026 Easter Seals committee, says the goal this year is to raise $70,000. With her is Lisa Parent, a former Rotary exchange student and mother of Rowan MacDonald, right, the 2026 Easter Seals ambassador.
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CONNECTOR OPENS
Moments before the barriers were removed from Water Street and Macewen Road, Summerside’s latest infrastructure development was already generating tangible excitement. As city staff, members of the local fire department and residents celebrated the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
P.E.I. SCHOOLS LACK TRAINING, TRACKING
An examination of complaints of sexual misconduct against education staff has identified several systemic weaknesses and policy shortcomings but has found school staff and administrators handled complaints against former substitute teacher Matthew...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HEARING UNDERWAY ABOUT 2023 DEATH
A hearing looking into a complaint from the widow of a man who died by suicide is underway in Charlottetown. On Monday, an adjudication began to hear from witnesses in relation to the death of Tyler Knockwood, a Charlottetown man who died in January...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ROB LANTZ SWORN IN AGAIN
Rob Lantz has been sworn in as P.E.I. premier again. Lantz won a hotly contested Progressive Conservative leadership race at a party convention at Charlottetown’s Eastlink Centre on Saturday, capturing 2,889 votes to Mark Ledwell’s 2,542. This gave...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FALLS ARE KILLING MORE OLDER CANADIANS
Had she known the northwestern Quebec city of Val d’or would be blanketed in snow in early November, Montrealer Anne Renaud would definitely not have worn her UGG boots, “which have absolutely no traction,” to visit her boyfriend there. The morning of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A BUILDING PAST ITS PRIME
The president of the Belfast Rec Centre said the time has come to replace the social gathering hub of the community. Clifford McKenna and the board of directors are proceeding with plans to knock down the aging steel roof arena and replace it with a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
MISINFORMATION AND HARASSMENT
Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser said members of her leadership team should not be held responsible for decisions made by the P.E.I. government and suggested she is concerned about “targeting and politics” focused on leaders of the health...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
OLYMPIC CONNECTION
APrince Edward Island athlete is about to make Team Canada history at the Olympic Winter Games in Italy. Brett Gallant, who grew up in Charlottetown, will be the first Canadian curler to compete in two different events at the same Olympic Games over...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TREE PARTNERSHIP ENDS
As part of government-wide budget cuts, Natural Resources Canada is ending the Two Billion Trees program. The funding project for tree planting across the country began in 2021. While the federal government will honour current agreements, there won’t...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
BLACK HISTORY MONTH KICKS OFF WITH GALA
The Black Cultural Society of P.E.I. kicked off Black History Month with its annual opening gala, which also marked 10 years since the society first began serving the Island’s Black community. The event celebrates the society’s growth from a small...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CANADA HAS PLEDGED EV SECTOR $50B IN SUBSIDIES. IS IT WORTH IT?
If you want to play, you have to pay. But when that payment is in the Canadian automotive industry, it in turn pays off in building businesses across several sectors that grow a national economy and generate thousands of jobs, industry experts...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
COWABUNGA, DUDES!
Tanner Doiron, from City of Summerside, stands next to a sidewalk plow potentially named Michelangelo, or will it be Donatello? The city held a recent public nomination vote to eventually decide names of its cleaning equipment. The Teenage Mutant Ninja...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SHOCK TREATMENT?
Maritime Electric currently has eight separate applications before the province’s regulator that could result in hikes to the electricity bills of Prince Edward Island residents, according to a list provided to The Guardian by the Island Regulatory and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NEW AMPHITHEATRE IS COMING TO THE ISLAND
An amphitheatre is coming to the Cavendish Beach Music Festival site in 2026. Whitecap Entertainment, which runs all the events at the site, has been issued a permit to build an outdoor, roofless structure that can accommodate 1,500 people to be...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SIGNS OF CHANGE
The new Holy Whale location in Charlottetown now has a sign on Allen Street. The New Brunswick-based brewery and bar bought the former Upstreet Craft Brewing’s equipment and intellectual property in late 2025 and has signed a new lease for the Allen...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NEW MEN’S SHED GROUP FORMS
NEW HAVEN, P.E.I. – Steve Holloway is trying to start a group to bring men together. The Charlottetown Men’s Shed would be geared to mainly retired men who may be feeling socially isolated and lacking in connection and purpose in a bid to improve...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘EVERYONE TOLD ME I WAS CRAZY’
At 15 years old, Danny Motyka dreamed of one day opening a psychedelics drug lab. Two decades later, the Calgary chemist leads a team developing pharmaceutical-grade psychedelic compounds, operating out of a warehouse-sized laboratory in the city’s...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WHAT A RUSH
Kenneth Sanderson, who embraced surfing when he lived in Australia before returning home to P.E.I., is a member of a community of hardy surfers who follow the waves on P.E.I.’s north shore in the chilly fall and winter months. The Rustico Surf Club has...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
BEST LAID PLANS
The 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts is about much more than just curling for Emily Best. It’s about reflection, emotions, realizing a dream, and an opportunity to give back. As Best participates in her first-ever Canadian women’s curling...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CHARLOTTETOWN’S DEPUTY MAYOR RECORDS FIRST LP
ACharlottetown politician was thinking about her mother’s medical diagnosis when thoughts of recording her first solo album began to materialize. Alanna Jankov decided to put her feelings into a song about her mom, Gail, being diagnosed with...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WISH COME TRUE
Myer Gallant, right, and his first cousin, Rowan Rennie, chat with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby in the dressing room of Pittsburgh’s practice facility. Crosby signed Myer’s and Rowan’s jerseys and socialized with the two Prince Edward Islanders on...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
GRATEFUL FOR NEW SPACE
Vendors and shoppers say they are excited the farmers market has reopened at a temporary new location weeks after a fire destroyed its former home. Vendors say quick reopening has been crucial, particularly for those who rely on the market as a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
XI WELCOMES STEADY STREAM OF LEADERS SHAKEN BY TRUMP’S NEW WORLD ORDER
Donald Trump’s tariff war occupied U.S. allies for much of last year. Now, Chinese President Xi Jinping is welcoming a procession of leaders looking to mend fences with the world’s other major economy. South Korea’s Lee Jae Myung kicked off the trend...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TOUGH SLEDDING
Ice covers part of Confederation Trail at the junction in Emerald, P.E.I. Recent warm weather and rain melted much of the snow on the trail, making it unusable for snowmobiles. With no significant snow in the forecast, it may be a while before the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PROVINCE WILL MISS 2030 CLIMATE TARGET
The P.E.I. government’s own projections suggest that current policies will result in the province missing its 2030 climate target, according to a report released by the Department of Environment. The new report, a yearly tally of the province’s...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CARRY A BIG STICK
Hannah the mini dachshund proudly lifts, with great difficulty, a large stick thrown for her by her humans, Tammy and Kevin Boulter, during a recent walk along Summerside’s Baywalk. If she ventured out Monday, Hannah would have had even more difficulty...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LENDING A HELPING HAND
Rowen Rodgers, left, and Kinley Scott, two Grade 9 students from Birchwood Intermediate School in Charlottetown, make up boxes of food at the Upper Room Hospitality Ministry’s food bank on Thursday. A group of Birchwood students has been volunteering...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
MARKET GETS TEMPORARY HOME
The Charlottetown Farmers’ Market has a new temporary home. For the next year, the market will take place at 614 North River Rd., the former location of Sporting Intentions. A fire on Christmas Day shuttered the market, but the building will be...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FERRY SAILING DELAYED
The MV Confederation sits docked in Charlottetown on Dec. 30. The ship was expected to travel to St. John’s this month but Northumberland Ferries said it returned to Charlottetown on Jan. 5 because of a mechanical issue involving the keel cooling system.
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A NEW BUILDING FOR DOWNTOWN
Another change is underway in downtown Charlottetown’s historic grid. Earlier this year, Bevan Bros. Ltd. demolished some buildings around the corners of Queen, Dorchester and King Streets. Now, the company is planning a seven storey mixed use complex...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WILL TOP U.S. COURT END THE TARIFF TURMOIL?
’Tis the season for renaming — everything from a cultural hub dedicated to a beloved slain president to new destroyers to 2025 itself. No, U.S. President Donald Trump hasn’t labelled the year with his name, but his trade representative, in a new op-ed,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
GOING A LEVEEING
Hundreds of P.E.I. residents and visitors line up at Government House on Thursday to attend a New Year’s Day levee. There were 47 levee events celebrating 2026 across P.E.I., according to a list compiled by Charlottetown blogger Peter Rukavina. This...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NUMBER 6 USHERS IN NEW YEAR
Downtown Charlottetown Inc. has brought in the new year in the P.E.I. capital. Tim’s Crane Service arrived outside the P.E.I. Convention Centre on the waterfront on a chilly Dec. 30 morning to perform the annual change at the big red numbers. It was...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SPECIAL LITTLE DELIVERIES
Abby Carroll comes from a family that considers Christmas the biggest day of the year, so it was only fitting that she had her first baby on the holiday. Carroll and her husband, Dean, welcomed their newborn into the world at 2:08 a.m., making him the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Apartment fire leaves two dead
Two people are dead following a structure fire at an apartment building on Green Street in Charlottetown on Dec. 28. The Charlottetown fire department responded to the fire around 7 a.m. on Dec. 28. Kent Mitchell, deputy fire chief, said once...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DID TRUMP SAVE CANADA FROM BAD POLICY?
Prime Minister Mark Carney rescinded Canada’s digital services tax (DST), a threeper-cent levy on digital services revenue from large domestic and foreign businesses, in June after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to halt trade talks if the tax...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
READY FOR THE PLUNGE
Jake MacCallum, the organizer for the 2026 polar bear dip in Charlottetown on Jan. 1, heads into the icy waters next to the Charlottetown Yacht Club on Dec. 22. He said there is no better way to advertise the event than by showing how it’s done.
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Maisy visits Santa Claus at the Confederation Court Mall, accompanied by Vanessa Larter (not pictured), to share her wish list ahead of Christmas.
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TRAINS, WAGONS AND HEARSES
Aparamedicine instructor who has published a book about the history of the Island’s ambulance service still gets choked up when talking about all he learned from his co-author, the late Sylvia Poirier, a trailblazer for paramedicine in P.E.I. who died...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
BOOM & GLOOM
In one southwestern Ontario city, forever linked by history to all things jumbo, one of the world’s largest automakers is building Canada’s biggest factory — a $7-billion colossus expected to employ about 3,000 people. Only 50 kilometres away, in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DEAL REACHED WITH DOCTORS
Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser speaks with reporters on Thursday after the announcement that the province has reached an agreement with family doctors. The agreement between Health P.E.I., the Department of Health and Wellness and the Medical Society...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WORKING TOGETHER TO GROW
Like any city, Charlottetown has sections that are dedicated to business. Downtown, West Royalty and the city’s north end between the bypass and Sherwood Road all stand out as strong commercial or industrial zones. But only downtown has what is called...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
EMBRACING CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
To walk into Richard Xu’s Charlottetown home at this time of year is like many in P.E.I. There are stockings hung on the mantelpiece, a Christmas tree, a television showing a burning fireplace, sweets and a dinner table decked out with festive holiday...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NEW FERRY DELAYED
Transport Canada has pushed back the delivery of a new ferry for the Prince Edward Island-nova Scotia crossing. The federal agency had originally promised it would occur in 2028 but is now not even saying what the date will be when that vessel will be...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NEW PREMIER SWORN IN
Bloyce Thompson was sworn in as P.E.I.’S 35th premier in a ceremony held at Government House in Charlottetown on Dec. 12. This follows former premier Rob Lantz’s resignation the day before so he could run for the Progressive Conservative party...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PREMIER STEPS DOWN
Rob Lantz poses with members of the Progressive Conservative caucus at the P.E.I. Convention Centre in Charlottetown on Thursday after announcing his intention to run as permanent PC leader. On Friday, Lantz quit as premier at a Government House...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HERITAGE DESIGNATION DENIED
Acontroversial attempt by the Charlottetown heritage department to have a house in the city’s downtown temporarily declared a heritage property without the owner’s consent has failed. This fall, the department applied to have 1B West St. made a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NO TO GUN BUYBACK
Charlottetown police will not be taking part in a federal program to buy back and eventually confiscate a variety of rifles and guns. Earlier this fall, Charlottetown’s police chief and deputy spoke about the department’s interest in helping the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SANTA’S HELPERS
Cpl. Kathy Lugosi, left, of the Cornwall detachment of the RCMP, prepares to mail her letter to Santa Claus as Staff Sgt. Nick Doyle looks on. The Cornwall detachment is accepting letters to Santa until Dec. 19, working in conjunction with Canada Post...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ROLE MODELS AND PROBLEM-SOLVING
Girls from across P.E.I. spent Saturday learning about science, technology, engineering and math at this year’s Girls Get Wise event held at UPEI. The event, organized by STEAM P.E.I. in partnership with Girl Guides and UPEI, brought together about...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ONTARIO CITY A CENTRAL SPOT IN FENTANYL FIGHT
In an underworld of criminals, guns and deadly fentanyl, Windsor, Ont., is a national nexus. Windsor’s place in the country’s booming fentanyl trade was recently highlighted with a record-shattering 46-kilogram drug bust. The $6.5-million fentanyl...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TRADITION CARRIES ON
Philip Gallant, left, and his sister, Nadine Tibbits, have turned Gallant’s North Rustico property into a Christmas wonderland in memory of their father, James Gallant (shown in a family portrait). James, who died in the spring at age 86, spent 38...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
OFFERING A SAFE SPACE
P.E.I.’S first and only openly queer nightclub has opened its doors with a goal its staff says goes beyond nightlife but creating a safe home for LGBTQIA2S+ Islanders and their allies. Be You Bar, located in downtown Charlottetown, opened three months...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LOOKING LIKE CHRISTMAS
Parka-clad pedestrians pick their way along slushy sidewalks on Queen Street in Charlottetown. About five to 10 centimetres of wet, heavy snow blanketed P.E.I. overnight Tuesday and a further five to 10 cm was being called for Wednesday. The Island’s...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘We can do a lot of things’
A Grade 10 student from Charlottetown is looking forward to making a difference as he takes on the role of Easter Seals ambassador. Rowan Macdonald, who attends Colonel Gray High School, was selected by the Easter Seals committee after a cross-island...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SMILES ALL AROUND
Holland College’s newly renovated dental clinic has a goal of improving oral health for communities in P.E.I., officials said during an official opening ceremony on Nov. 28. The upgrades are part of a threeyear project supported by the federal...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WHY CHINESE EVS KEEP HAUNTING LIBERAL PRIME MINISTERS
Mark Carney has inherited Justin Trudeau’s nightmare. In his decade as prime minister, one of the policy decisions that haunted Trudeau was the unavoidable question about whether to allow Chinese electric vehicles (EVS) into the Canadian market. It...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A NEWSIE AT HEART
Gary MacDougall, former managing editor of The Guardian, has just published his sixth book, A Newsie from the Valley: The Memoir of a P.E.I. Paperboy. In it, he recounts stories from his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. It is also a love...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
KEEPING UP THE PRESSURE
P.E.I. The Town of Cornwall is getting ready to double its water supply. A two-year construction project has recently finished on a second water tower on the opposite side of the community as the first one. The new tower is located about a kilometre...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WATERSHED ALLIANCE RAISES ALARM
Heather Laiskonis says the provincial government should follow its own advice and put in place an independent, arm’slength body tasked with making decisions about water. The executive director of the P.E.I. Watershed Alliance, which represents 25...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
READY FOR THE EDD
Dave, left, and Dwayne Mcneill pose with the Edd Mcneill Memorial hockey tournament all-star game championship trophy and other awards. This year marks the first time in the tournament’s 28-year history an all-star game will be held. The all-star game...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
P.E.I.’S URGENT ISSUES ON THE DEBATE FLOOR
Health and housing were two of the topics on the agenda for students taking part in this year’s recent Rotary Youth Parliament. The 36th annual Rotary Youth Parliament opened Nov. 21 at the P.E.I. legislature in Charlottetown, with Island students...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Summerside Western Capitals lead the league
The Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals have put themselves in a position to widen their lead atop the Maritime Junior Hockey League standings. The Capitals, leaders of the Eastlink South Division and winners of four straight games,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A MOMENT OF SILENCE
Flag-bearers stand at the ready for Remembrance Day ceremonies in Charlottetown on Nov. 11 as thousands of onlookers line the downtown streets in view of the recently restored cenotaph. Events took place at communities across P.E.I. on Tuesday in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘EVERYONE IS AGREED THAT IT’S AWFUL’
You’re a Canadian farm kid, sitting in a European trench in 1915. A man you’ve never met is dying across a stretch of open land, 100 yards away, as you pen a letter home. Death is everywhere. You’ve shot moving bodies, you’ve huddled against incoming...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
IN SEARCH OF A SEAL
Ray Brow, chair of the P.E.I. Military Sites Museum and P.E.I. Colonial Militia, is hoping to solve a 250-year-old mystery by finding the province’s Great Seal and having it returned. The seal was stolen during a raid on Charlottetown by U.S....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
QUALITY OF CARE
Families of residents of private long-term care homes say care standards and staff training at these homes can be inadequate despite an influx of public dollars into the sector. Thirteen family members of residents of private long-term care facilities...
Read Full Story (Page 1)