Beer, scarf not enough to entice workers back to P.E.I., Opposition says

P.E.I. needs more than free beer and a scarf to entice Islanders living in Western Canada to move back home, the Opposition says.

PC MLA Sidney MacEwen on Friday questioned the government's plan to bring workers back to the Island, and what jobs they would fill.

He was critical of a party the P.E.I. government hosted for former Islanders Tuesday in Edmonton. About 35 Islanders living in Alberta attended, and they all received one drink ticket and a free scarf.

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"If we're repatriating people back, which jobs are we doing that for?" MacEwen asked. "Why are we hosting parties, why are we trying to recruit people if we don't know the type of workers we want to get back yet?"

Minister of Workforce and Advanced LearningRichard Brown,said government is fulfilling its mandate to increase the workforce and grow the economy. He defended the Edmonton party as a way to "connect Islanders back to Prince Edward Island."

"If it means a little treat like this, I'm OK with it," he said.

But MacEwen said if government wanted to serve them beer, it should be the new brew coming from Charlottetown's Upstreet Craft Brewing called Top Stamp, "because that's exactly what these workers are coming home to under your strategy."

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