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Saturday, August 22, 2009

Prince Edward Island and "come from away"

This is a fascinating article about Prince Edward Island. If you were not born on PEI, you would be known as CFA which means "come from away". Made me think of those Russian nesting dolls, you know the ones where you can keep on peeling to find several more inside the layers. Goes to prove how very mysterious and exotic all our people happen to be. Learning about Canada and its people is a never ending lovely endeavor. It's a good article overall, however, I definitely do not agree with the view of Dr.Baldacchino as portrayed by the writer Teresa Wright. Emphasis mine. quote: In a recent report compiled for the provincial Population Secretariat, UPEI Professor Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino found many newcomers to P.E.I. feel the marked distinction between themselves and “real” Islanders is cold, unwelcoming and sometimes just plain discriminatory. The report surveyed recent immigrants to P.E.I. about their reasons for coming to the Island and wanting to stay and, for those who left, the factors that made them want to leave. Among the 257 respondents who shared their stories in the survey, “the alleged closed-mindedness of Islanders” was the most common explanation given by newcomers for wanting to leave. “Many of them are fairly concerned about the labelling that’s going on,” Baldacchino said. A settler to P.E.I. from another province or country is often referred to as a CFA (Come-From-Away). But this label is seen as prejudiced and mean-spirited by many new residents. Baldacchino said he believes the designation of newcomers as ‘CFAs’ borders dangerously on outright racism. “It’s creating a class of second-class citizens who will never be able to belong and I think that’s an issue.” As an immigrant to P.E.I. himself, Baldacchino knows first-hand how difficult it can be to integrate into Island society. He always gets questions about where he’s from, especially due to his foreign name and accent. When he tells people he’s from Charlottetown, they just laugh and ask, ‘No, but where are you really from?’ “This is something that is very painful because it all the time means that I can’t belong,” he said. unquote Now, I simply cannot see why Baldacchino thinks that the phrase "come from away" is racist. It is a natural turn of language. Being an immigrant myself and one of the visible minorities, if someone were to ask me "where are you from?" I would welcome the question. Firstly, because someone is showing an interest in my origins and secondly because I think that is a natural question if you have a friendly and inquisitive mind. It has nothing to do with racism like this dopey Dr.Baldacchino is suggesting. Pompous fools like Dr.Baldacchino go out of their way to create a feeling of racism where none is intended. And pray tell us Dr.Baldacchino, how many people, that actually left the island for other places said they did not like the "closed-mindedness of Islanders"? Were there 2 who said that, were there 3? I liked the attitude of the ex-Texan Debbie Crowther who moved to PEI a few years ago. Read the article but ignore the nonsense spurted by the so called "provincial Population Secretariat, UPEI" Dr.Baldacchino. AreYouAnIsland by Teresa Wright

3 comments:

  1. Teresa Wright is the reporter who misrepresented Mike Duffy by making stuff up and she is at it again.

    My husband is from PEI, and every time we go back from Alberta we are welcomed with open arms. I have never heard the term "come away from" ever in all my 23 years of visiting there and if I was an "islander" this article would tick me off big time.

    I have never met friendlier people than those from PEI. I suspect the DR. is a misfit and "islanders" figured that out. Islanders are the most down to earth people I have ever met, and they can smell a phony a mile away. The only one who is racist is probably the DR. himself, "islanders" aren't likely to tolerate his stupidity, nor the one making up this stuff, Teresa Wright.

    Funny how she never reported on Shawn Murphy (Liberal MP) and his "hang em high" comments in the House of Commons.

    This reporter is making things up and giving PEI a black eye. After reading this, why would anyone want to visit the island?

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  2. Hunter - I found that her article was more bent on giving the dumbo Doctor's stance than on anything else. Speaking for myself, my grandparents were born, bred and died on a sort of an island connected to their main country, somewhat like PEI, and I know for a fact that island people are warm and more caring than people in the cities. My grandmother and others would go out of their way to accommodate strangers, so much so, that most of the inhabitants in that tiny region are now from the main country and the place is a prosperous, bustling and much sought after tourist destination. By writing this article, it is more than possible, that this woman wants to keep new immigrants or people from other parts of Canada from going and settling in PEI. She definitely has an ulterior motive.

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  3. Dr. Baldacchino is absolutely correct. Canadians love to "sweep issues under the rug" and the Islanders' opposition to "from away" people is another perfect example. My family and I are from a province in western Canada and we spent two years in PEI. As much as we tried to integrate there was always a thin layer we felt Islanders installed between us and them. For kids this problem is not much as they are accepted but for adults it is quite notorious. It manifested in trying to get jobs, education, joining a social group, attempting to buy island property, even at the hospital or walk-in clinic. We observed that this layering attitude was becoming larger as more immigrants - especially Korean and Chinese - were moving into the island. Younger people is more open as they had the opportunity to travel outside of the island (indeed, we met some Islanders who never visited mainland Canada and even treated it with disdain).

    The above attitude is in strong contrast as how Islanders are actually better received in other parts of Canada as they move out of the island looking for work. Pretty much the Islanders' attitude on PEI towards visitors is friendly if they see them with a photo camera, but they would change their attitude if those visitors tell them that they moved to the island with the purpose of staying.

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