Being premier of a province is an awesome responsibility and we as citizens need to be grateful for their years of service. Having said that, I want to publicly highlight three premiers who, in my estimation, stand out above the rest for the significant contributions they made.

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I often refer to Alex Campbell as the Father of Modern Day P.E.I. Before his arrival in the premier’s office, there were old-time politicians who hand delivered social security cheques. Not only did Campbell put an end to that practice, he professionalized the P.E.I. public service by establishing the Civil Service Commission.

Alex Campbell’s 12 years in power could well be described as the most significant period of social and economic change in the history of our great province. Quite frankly, the only thing that exceeded the enormity of changes at that time was Campbell’s own courage and political leadership.

To appreciate the validity of my observations, one needs to appreciate the social and political dynamics of the early 1960s. Small communities closely guarded their autonomy and independence. Additionally there was a great Catholic and Protestant divide. P.E.I. was anything but cosmopolitan. Communities were small, insular, sectarian and very much focused on local affairs.

Against that backdrop and armed with great courage, Campbell negotiated a 15-year development plan with the federal government. This had the effect of propelling the province into the modern era. Besides professionalizing the public service, he amalgamated more than 400 small community-based school boards into five units. Alex told me once that a visit to a one-room school where they were using Corn Flakes boxes for insulation convinced him of the need to make significant changes in the P.E.I. school system.

The development plan that Campbell negotiated with the feds resulted in a massive province-wide system of consolidated schools which today are modern and preparing students for an ever-changing world. Local school boards, province-wide, opposed this intrusion into their local affairs and their independent decision-making authority.

Just as courageous and daring, was his successful amalgamation of two........

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