Is it who you know? An investigation of the relationship between small-island politics and infrastructure policy on Prince Edward Island

As one of the ten Canadian Provinces, Prince Edward Island receives federal funding from Ottawa to uphold specific infrastructure policies and programs on the Island. Infrastructure policy-making is a by-product of political mechanisms of multi-level governance. Politicians are key people in the making of infrastructure. They are involved at different stages of policy making and implementation. Islandness and smallness suggest an inherent intimacy between politicians and their constituents. High election turnout, perceived limited resources within the setting of high population density (as opposed to other Canadian provinces), all expose a unique state of affairs. The local islander considers himself/herself close to the politician within a give-and-take situation. This in turn elevates the politician to a gatekeeper role, as guardian of the interests of the island-province and more specifically the community in the riding/constituency.

This thesis is based on research conducted in four municipalities across PEI. It studies the interactions between the three levels of government—municipal, provincial and federal—and the role played by the politicians within the path of mapping a roadmap of the who, which and if in infrastructure public policy.