Dawn Chafe

A financial advisor I know has a favorite saying: do you want to look rich, or do you want to be rich? He says it to motivate clients to save more and spend less; unfortunately, too many people are spending less without saving more and unintentionally squeezing vulnerable populations in the process. Nerd that I am, I’m going to paraphrase a young Obi Wan Kenobi: we, all of us, form a symbiote circle. What happens to one of us affects us all.

If there was a competition for the title of Prince Edward Island’s most positive person, Shawn McCarvill would be a serious contender. Reached by phone in the midst of a global pandemic that’s triggering a worldwide economic crisis, the president of Slemon Park Corporation repeatedly said he had much to be thankful for. Topping his list of ‘gratitudes’ is the federal and provincial governments’ management of COVID-19.

September 16 was a day of contradictions in St. John’s, N.L. The weather was warm and sunny with a jacket-optional humidity you’d normally only find mid-summer. Equally unexpected were the hundreds of well-heeled career professionals and business leaders politely clamouring on the steps of Confederation Building. The biggest shock of all? The rally was a cry for help, (i.e. cash) for, get this… Big Oil.