One person (so far) answers P.E.I.'s call: 'You should come home'
The P.E.I. government says one family moved back to the island as a result of an ad campaign in the month of August encouraging ex-pat Islanders to come home.
Government said the person who moved back with her family, Marianne Dennis of Toronto, is also the person who won a one-way ticket to P.E.I. offered up by government in a draw associated with the campaign.
On Tuesday, Minister of Workforce and Advanced Learning Sonny Gallant said 45 people entered the draw for that ticket.
He said none of them except for the winner of the contest, had moved back. "Not at this point, but as it goes along we'll learn more about the contest," Gallant told reporters.
Beer, scarves, and free flights
"It seems like this government relies heavily on gimmicks to attract skilled workers to Prince Edward Island," said PC MLA Steven Myers during question period, "rather than lower taxes and better wages here in Prince Edward Island. Two years ago, this government was in Alberta handing out beer and scarves."
"When will this government move beyond gimmicks and questionable marketing campaigns to attract skilled workers back here to Prince Edward Island to address the labour shortage that we have?"
"This was a very successful campaign," Gallant replied. "It was money well spent and it created a buzz right across the province and right across the country and there was many people interested and checked it out and were coming back to PEI."
Government later provided further statistics, noting that, over the course of the radio and social media campaign, noting there were 1,860 visits to the contest website (which has since been taken down).
Gallant said since the campaign, 297 people have registered at the province's Work PEI website, which looks to match job seekers with Island employers.
Campaign drew backlash
The "Maybe You Should Come Home" ad campaign drew a backlash from some residents. Jill MacIntyre described it "almost like a little bit of a slap in the face to a lot of young people who can't live in the province that we call home," referring to the lack of affordable housing in the province.
Others pointed to the province's low wages, as Myers did Tuesday.
"People want to be here, people want to eat supper at home with their own children," Myers said. "People want to go to their Christmas concert for their own child. People want to do all these things but they can't. They can't come home here and work for 14 dollars an hour when they're making 45 up north. It just doesn't cut it."
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