The 
     
    
   
   
    
     I recall some_ time 
     
     ago seeing a bumper sticter 
     
     proclained in large 
     
     letters, TECHNOLOGY IS 
     
     THE ANSWER. But printed 
     
     in smaller letters just be- 
     
     neath it said, “but what is 
     
    
   
   
    
     the question.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     which 
     
    
   
   
    
     This has great applicabil- 
     
     ity with regard to the fixed 
     
     link debate taking place in 
     
     the province at the present 
     
     time. the fixed link is be- 
     
     ing promoted as a technolog- 
     
     ical solution; but do we have 
     
     a clear view of the size and 
     
     shape of the problem. 
     
    

    
     The question we need to 
     
     ask is whether or not this is a 
     
     piece of technology which is 
     
     appropriate to this province 
     
     and to our vision of our- 
     
     selves, or whether it is a case 
     
     of some Islanders being will- 
     
     ing to shape our society to 
     
     fit the technology. This lat- 
     
     ter tendency represents one 
     
    
   
   
    
     of the most destructive as-“ 
     
    
   
   
    
     pects of the modern age, for 
     
     it is a tendency which is pre- 
     
     pared to sacrifice human so- 
     
     ciety and culture to the de- 
     
     mands of the technological 
     
     imperative. 
     
    

    
     As Islanders we all recog- 
     
     nize that there are certain in- 
     
     conveniences associated with 
     
     ferry transportation, but a 
     
     project of this magnitude 
     
     must not be reduced to a 
     
     question of personal conve- 
     
     nience. 
     
    

    
     Islanders must also con- 
     
     sider seriously whether or 
     
    
   
   
    
     No Gide 
     
    
   
   
    
     A quick trip to Moncton? 
     
    
   
   
    
     not it is wise to follow a line 
     
     of thinking which tends to re- 
     
     gard our insularity as a prob- 
     
     lem, rather than an oppor- 
     
     tunity. If we are to prosper 
     
     and thrive in this province 
     
     we must be able to recognize 
     
     the advantages and potentia- 
     
     bilities of our insular status. 
     
    

    
     The building of a bridge 
     
     or a tunnel does not , of 
     
     course, destroy completely 
     
     our status as an Island; how- 
     
     ever, it does represent the 
     
     victory of a way of thinking 
     
     which tends to regard our Is- 
     
     landness as a problem and a 
     
     liability. - 
     
    

    
     A knowledge of our his- 
     
     tory reveals that many of the 
     
    
   
   
    
     best things that have hap- 
     
     pened in this province have 
     
     been the direct result of our 
     
     insularity. Our very sta- 
     
     tus as a separate province 
     
     stems from this fact. If 
     
     had been, a hundred 
     
     years ago, a peninsular ex- 
     
     tension of New Brunswick, 
     
     we would today be a po- 
     
     litical,economic, and cultural 
     
     extension of the mainland. 
     
     Few Islanders would want to 
     
     see that happen, and yet a 
     
     vote for a fixed link which 
     
     many are promoting repre- 
     
     sents a step in that direction. 
     
    
   
   
    
     we 
     
    
   
   
    
     — 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     eels femelemton tt 
     
    
   
   
    
     In the end it comes down 
     
    

    
     to this: we are Islanders, liv- 
     
     ing in a place set apart by 
     
     time and nature. Over the 
     
     generations we have adapted 
     
     ourselves to thst reality. It is 
     
     one of the things that makes 
     
     us what we are. If we are 
     
     deeply dissatisfied with being 
     
     Islanders then perhaps a vote 
     
     for as fixed link is appropri- 
     
     ate. But if we are proud of 
     
     this place —and confident of 
     
     what it has been and might 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
            
     
    
   
   
    
     Bett 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     —— Sin w= Tae 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     be— then a vote for a fixed 
     
     link is a mistake. 
     
    

    
     I like what one man in 
     
     Summerside said at a meet- 
     
     ing just last week. ‘What 
     
     do we want to leave our chil- 
     
     dren?” he asked, “a clean 
     
     environment and a pride in 
     
     the Island; or a quick trip to 
     
     Moncton?” — 
     
    
   
   
    
     David Weale for Friends 0 
     
     The Island