LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Last updated at 5:22 AM on 01/05/09

Friends differ with Confederacy print this article
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Editor:

I would like to respond to a recent article on the Opinion page of The Guardian ('A team approach to the experimental farm', April 29, 2009).

The authors quote me as having said in an interview that "I feel confident that we can come up with a plan that is acceptable to both groups." Both groups being the Friends of the Farm and the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island. What I also said was that the Friends and the Confederacy have different views regarding the ownership of the land. The Friends have always supported public ownership of the land (either the province or the city) and have wanted it maintained as green space. Ever since Friends of the Farm started in 1994, this has been our position. Unfortunately that part of the interview was never aired. I'm sure that if the complete interview is in the CBC archives, my statement can be verified.

The Mi'kmaq Confederacy, or at least Jeff Brant, director of socio-economic development, was informed of this position of the Friends. As late as Jan. 26, 2009, two representatives of the Friends met with Jeff, at his request, and he was told that the membership of the Friends would not support ownership of the land by any corporation. The Friends and other groups opposed the development of the CARI complex on the farm for the same reason, so are not singling out the Confederacy.

In the same article, the authors quote a previous report of a public meeting. According to the article, the meeting "resulted in efforts to block development, 'especially development by a Mi'kmaq corporation'." I was at that meeting and I do not remember anyone making such a statement; and Friends of the Farm have never singled out the Mi'kmaq Confederacy. Indeed we sympathize with them and would like to see them be successful in their endeavours. However, they could make a real contribution to the community and to the province by selecting some site other than the experimental farm for commercial development.

Bert Christie,

Stratford
01/05/09