Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction Du Branch Patrimoine De I'edition
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Is it who you know? An Investigation of the Relationship between Small-Island Politics and Infrastructure Policy On Prince Edward Island by Margaret Mizzi, B.Com (Hons), M.A. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts In partial fulfillment Of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In Island Studies University of Prince Edward Island Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island April 2008 Copyright 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-49835-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-49835-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada Mizzi 3 ABSTRACT As one of the ten Canadian Provinces, Prince Edward Island receives federal funding from Ottawa to uphold specific infrastructure policies and programs on the Island. Infrastructure policy-making is a by-product of political mechanisms of multi-level governance. Politicians are key people in the making of infrastructure. They are involved at different stages of policy making and implementation. Islandness and smallness suggest an inherent intimacy between politicians and their constituents. High election turnout, perceived limited resources within the setting of high population density (as opposed to other Canadian provinces), all expose a unique state of affairs. The local islander considers himself/herself close to the politician within a give-and-take situation. This in turn elevates the politician to a gatekeeper role, as guardian of the interests of the island-province and more specifically the community in the riding/constituency. This thesis is based on research conducted in four municipalities across PEL It studies the interactions between the three levels of government - municipal, provincial and federal - and the role played by the politicians within the path of mapping a roadmap of the who, which and if'm infrastructure public policy. Mizzi 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank: • Dr Andrew Trivett for his guidance • Patrick J. Augustine for his patience • My parents for foregoing part of the lifetime savings to support my studies • Anna and Dr Godfrey Baldacchino for the personal help especially during some troubled times • My brothers and their families for being there • Rita Augustine and Sandra Warner, Patrick's mum and sister respectively • Lieutenant Governor Hon. Barbara Hagerman for making me feel home as part of the UPEI Ambassador Program • Bill and Denise Andrew, for their financial contribution towards Island Studies research • My friends in Gozo who remembered their 'ex-isled' friend and kept in contact • The people at Robertson Library who made library resources highly accessible • The people at Computer Services, UPEI especially Larry Yeo who was very helpful when my laptop broke down on numerous occasions • Fr Charles Cheverie who provided spiritual and sometimes some financial support • Dr Jean Mitchell, Dr Edward MacDonald and Dr Lisa Chilton for listening to my ideas Mizzi 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 LIST OF TABLES 7 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 8 CHAPTER 2: THE ISLAND 14 WHAT is SMALL AND WHAT CONSTITUTES AN ISLAND? 14 WHY PEI? WHY NOT? 16 HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF ISLANDNESS IN PEI 18 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL-MUNICIPAL RELATIONS PN PEI 18 PEI ECONOMY 19 ISLAND CONNECTIONS 20 CHAPTER 3: SMALL ISLAND POLITICS 22 Is IT A CASE OF PATRONAGE? 23 How DOES PATRONAGE FIT WITHIN SMALL ISLAND CONTEXTS? 24 HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO PEI AND GOZO? 25 "WE DO IT DIFFERENTLY HERE" 27 VOTER POWER 28 INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDPNG 29 How DO MUNICIPALITIES AND SOCIAL GROUPS FIT PN? 32 CHAPTER 4: METHODS AND PROCEDURES 35 WHAT is THE RESEARCH ABOUT? 35 How WAS THE RESEARCH DONE? 36 THE INTERVIEW 37 RESEARCH DESIGN 38 PERSONAL DISCLOSURE 39 COLLECTING AND STORING THE DATA 41 HOW DID WE DETERMINE WHICH INTERVIEW TEMPLATE TO USE? 43 DURING THE PNTERVIEW 44 DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED DURMG THE COLLECTION OF DATA 46 CHAPTER 5: THE DATA 48 INTERVIEW DATA 48 MULTI-LEVEL GOVERNMENT TEMPLATE VS. SOCIAL FORCES' TEMPLATE 49 STUDY COMMUNITY #1: CHARLOTTETOWN 50 CHARLOTTETOWN DATA 52 STUDY COMMUNITY #2: SUMMERS IDE 58 SUMMERSIDE DATA 61 STUDY COMMUNITY #3: MONTAGUE 65 MONTAGUE DATA 67 STUDY COMMUNITY #4: KINKORA 73 KINKORADATA 74 THE GOVERNMENT/SOCIAL-FORCES COMPARISON 79 MUNICIPAL - PROVINCIAL - FEDERAL INTERFACES 84 CONCLUSION: IS IT WHO YOU KNOW? 95 Mizzi 6 DISCUSSION: HOW SOCIAL AND PUBLIC IS INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY? 95 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GOOD PUBLIC POLICY 102 APPENDIX 1 103 DATA TABLES 103 APPENDIX 2 118 RESEARCH ETHICS BOARD 118 APPENDIX 3 119 INTERVIEW TEMPLATES 119 APPENDIX 4 120 LETTER SENT TO PARTICIPANTS 120 APPENDIX 5 121 INFORMATION HANDED TO PARTICIPANTS 121 REFERENCES 122 Mizzi 7 LIST OF TABLES FIGURE 1: MAP OF THE FOUR STUDY SITES IN PEI 17 TABLE 1: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AND LAND AREA IN ATLANTIC CANADA 21 FIGURE 2: LOCATION OF MALTA AND GOZO WITHIN EUROPEAN MAP 25 TABLE 2: FEDERAL GENERAL ELECTIONS, ATLANTIC CANADA VOTER TURNOUT 28 FIGURE 3: LOCATION OF CHARLOTTETOWN IN PEI 50 TABLE 3: CHARLOTTETOWN - GENERAL INFORMATION ON INFRASTRUCTURE 53 FIGURE 4: LOCATION OF SUMMERSIDE IN PEI 59 TABLE 4: SUMMERSIDE - GENERAL QUESTIONS ON INFRASTRUCTURE 61 FIGURE 5: LOCATION OF MONTAGUE IN PEI 65 TABLE 5: MONTAGUE - GENERAL ^FORMATION ON INFRASTRUCTURE 68 FIGURE 6: LOCATION OF KINKORA IN PEI 73 TABLE 6: KINKORA - GENERAL INFORMATION ON INFRASTRUCTURE 75 TABLE 7: GENERAL QUESTIONS ON INFRASTRUCTURE 86 TABLE 8: FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL INVOLVEMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE IN PEI 87 TABLE 9: MUNICIPAL AND SOCIAL FORCES INVOLVEMENT m INFRASTRUCTURE IN PEI 90 TABLE 10: POLITICAL FORCES SURROUNDING INFRASTRUCTURES PEI 92 TABLE 11: CHARLOTTETOWN - FEDERAL AND PROVSCIAL ROLES IN INFRASTRUCTURE 103 TABLE 12: CHARLOTTETOWN-MUNICIPAL AND SOCIAL ROLES IN INFRASTRUCTURE 104 TABLE 13: CHARLOTTETOWN - POLITICAL FORCES m THE COMMUNITY 105 TABLE 14: SUMMERSIDE - FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL ROLES IN INFRASTRUCTURE 106 TABLE 15: SUMMERSIDE -MUNICIPAL AND SOCIAL ROLES m INFRASTRUCTURE 107 TABLE 16: SUMMERSIDE-POLITICAL FORCES IN THE COMMUNITY 109 TABLE 4: MONTAGUE AND FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL ROLES IN INFRASTRUCTURE 110 TABLE 18: MONTAGUE - MUNICIPAL AND SOCIAL ROLES IN INFRASTRUCTURE 111 TABLE 19: MONTAGUE - POLITICAL FORCES IN THE COMMUNITY 112 TABLE 20: KINKORA -FEDERAL AND PROVPNCIAL ROLES IN INFRASTRUCTURE 115 TABLE 21: KINKORA-MUNICIPAL AND SOCIAL ROLES IN INFRASTRUCTURE 116 TABLE 22: KINKORA-POLITICAL FORCES IN THE COMMUNITY 117 FIGURE 1: MAP OF THE FOUR STUDY SITES IN PEI 17 FIGURE 2: LOCATION OF MALTA AND GOZO WITHIN EUROPEAN MAP (EUROPE_MALTA_MAP) 25 FIGURE 3: LOCATION OF CHARLOTTETOWN IN PEI 50 FIGURE4: LOCATION OF SUMMERSIDE IN PEI 59 FIGURE 5: LOCATION OF MONTAGUE W PEI 65 FIGURE 6: LOCATION OF KPNKORA m PEI 73 Mizzi 8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION "When William the Conqueror ascended the throne of England in 1066 the country was divided into counties or shires, each of which was governed by a shire-reeve or sheriff, who was appointed by the King. In Norman times the authority of the sheriff was so extensive that he has been described as "a provincial viceroy." (Golding, 1970), p.9) Historically, municipal governance was a medium through which kings or feudal lords managed their land and resources. It has evolved into a governing structure through which grassroots democracy is exercised and resources flow within different spheres of governance. Authority has been transposed from the hands of a "shire- reeve" to that of a municipality council, transitioning from a provincial viceroy to a legislative assembly, and within the federal structure, the Norman Conqueror was transmuted as the House of Commons. Superimposing the lines of authority on a tiny island such as PEI, how is multi-level governance exercised today when it comes to infrastructure policy? Small places, especially islands, tend to conduct affairs - whether business, government- related or otherwise - using networks and linkages. Given the limitations of geographical constraints resulting in diseconomies of scale such as transportation limitations, resources on small islands are stretched in order to accommodate different utilities. The opportunity cost of foregoing the use of one resource to something else is Mizzi 9 prohibitive. Due to the resource-constraint - human, financial material or technological - efforts are made to maximize the utility of such resources. People put on different 'hats', i.e., perform different roles within a small society.