How do I sum up the last few months? Being able to connect with my community and learn the issues that mattered to you has been amazing. You shared your stories and concerns with me.

From your feed back, I was able to build a platform that focuses making our government more transparent, accessible, and communicative. You want to make our roads safer for all forms of transportation while expanding our public transit routes to meet the needs of our riders. Finally make sure we build affordable housing to meet our needs today and for the future.

I would like to thank you all with the support you have given me. Your supportive words have been a great motivator as I knocked on the doors. For those that I missed, I am sorry and hope we can meet in the future.

However things turn out Monday, I trust the voters. My promise to you is, win or lose, i will keep working to make our Ward and our city a better place.

Thank you Ward 5 for all the support.

You might just view it as normal now, a small white sticker with line art of a water bottle with Fill Up Here written inside. A simple message telling you you can refill your water bottle for free. You may even have the companion sticker Filler Up on your water bottle. This simple program is the idea of Daniel Cousins.

The inspiration and drive behind projects such as the Charlottetown Tool Library, Repair Cafe PEI, Fill Up Here, and more come from me and my experiences living in Prince Edward Island. As a social entrepreneur, I often say I am a “philanthropist with no money”.

Every project I work on is part of a bigger plan. When I reflect back on my projects, they all have one thing in common, they are all to make PEI a better place. It is what I can do, and sometimes it takes some sacrifices to make sure they can meet everyone’s needs.

The Charlottetown Tool Library is the smallest in Canada at 100sqft. I have paid the rent on the tool library often, and when I get the chance, I buy tools and equipment for it as well. The end goal has always been for it one day to be a free service for everyone, just like a normal library but that takes resources I simply can’t provide. In the past six years, I have spent over $10,000 out of my own pocket to make sure the Charlottetown Tool Library has what it needs and keeps its doors open.

If anyone ever needed proof that a tool library is needed: at 8 am September 25th, the first knock came at my front door with someone looking for tools to help deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona. By 10:30, I really had nothing left that could help. I was offering hand saws at that time.

One day I hope to see my big projects come to fruition: planting food forests, a non-profit hub, and a makerspace that can do anything. I have notebooks filled with ideas and look through them often for inspiration. It is amazing to see how some ideas have evolved from the first time I thought of them, so when it finally happens. I can flip through my old notebooks and see the first draft for Fill Up Here. I hope one day to be able to make all of them happen.

Where do we even start after an event like this? You walk around your neighbourhood see the damage and ask yourself important questions like: where do I go if I need help, or more commonly with communications networks down, how do I find out?

Most Islanders surpassed the 72-hour mark without power. For many, throwing out the food in their fridges and freezers is taking away their food security. With rising inflation and food costs, for many this is not easily replaced.

Fionamay not be the storm of the century, is the possible new normal for us. It is time to ask did we handle this well and were we prepared for what happened? The past few days, I have just been taking in the sheer magnitude of the situation. here is what we need to do next.

The time for blaming people is over we all dropped the ball on planning. After the storm, my roommates and I looked up our warming shelter information, that was hard fought to get with the state of the cellular network. It was closed, with no sign on the door saying where to go or anything.

We need to have these shelters planned with backups and ensure the information is easy for everyone to access. I suggest a nice fridge magnet that tells you about all warming stations/shelters in your area.

Next, we need better communication. Lots of people tried to find out information on the radio and it was difficult, to say the least if we set a time say the top of the hour every hour on all radio stations for a provincial update, also adding a station that just continuously broadcasts the shelters in a loop would be helpful.

I live in an apartment in Charlottetown. Apartments need electricity to run. With no power for days and no end in sight, we are left without a BBQ or generator as these and banned under bylaws. What do these bylaws serve? We lost BBQs because of a black mulch fire, yet we still landscape heavily with black mulch. I put out 2-5 mulch fires a year just because I spot them.

The generator ban is so vague that even solar generators are not allowed meaning that if tenants were lucky enough to be able to acquire a generator in hopes of trying to save their food they would not be allowed.

These bylaws need to be repealed immediately as renters are left without recourse when these are tools that can be of real help and cut down on food waste.

The last major issue is the lack of public transit. I have walked over 20kms a day the last few days, just trying to get downtown and back. Even people with cars may not be able to get out to warming shelters due to the fallen trees. Even if we could clear basic bus routes and had them run without set pick-up times but run from 7:30 am -10:30 pm people could access the shelters better.

We need to sit down and have a serious talk about our emergency plan both provincial and municipal. We need to have a plan in place that can be ready to go at a moment's notice and it needs backups, not just plans B and C but the whole alphabet.

We need and must do better in the future. It is time we take our lessons from Dorian and Fiona and build a plan to prepare us for whatever storms come our way.

Daniel Cousins has come out as Charlottetown’s first Non-Binary candidate. They are running to represent Ward 5 Ellen’s Creek. Cousins who goes by the neutral They/Them/Their pronouns spoke out yesterday on social media after their candidacy announcement press release was edited to reflect male pronouns.

“I worry that how this was treated could happen to other diverse candidates,” said Cousins “how we treat candidates who are different is important if they feel that who they are makes them a target we run the risk of losing diverse and often overlooked perspectives in our community.”

Elections PEI has a survey in the candidate nomination form asking about the diversity of candidates with questions on if a candidate is a youth or senior, gender, disability, or race. The survey is optional yet is written in a way that can make diverse candidates feel unsafe about being honest for the risk of having a target on their backs.

I do know there is a risk of being different in the court of public opinion.” Cousins reflected “I have lived all my life being different, different is not a bad thing the world needs different.

Government may seem like the need for consensus in decisions but it is so much more effective and better for the people when diverse perspectives have a voice and a problem can be looked at from all angles to come up with the best solutions.

“While I am publicly coming out as Non-Binary I will take the opportunity also to mention I live with a disability but if you have seen me walk around with my cane would assume.” Cousins said lightheartedly. “But in all seriousness, I want to assure the public neither my disability nor my pronouns will affect my ability to represent the people of Ward 5.”

As of Wednesday morning, all errors have been corrected on Daniel’s candidacy announcement.

September 9, 2022,

Daniel Cousins has spent their summer knocking on doors connecting with the community of ward 5 Charlottetown. Learning about the issues the community cares about from safer roads for all modes of transportation, to better transparency in government, housing and more.

“Getting to meet my community and talk about the issues that matter to them has been an amazing experience. Learning about the amazing and diverse community and what matters to them has helped me become a better politician and neighbour.” Cousins said, reflecting on their summer door knocking.

Cousins first announced his candidacy at the final public consultation for the city’s short term by law. A passionate advocate for affordable housing, founder of the Charlottetown Tool Library and creator of Fill Up Here. Daniel’s passion and focus are always to make the city of Charlottetown a better place for those that call it home.

“ I had to be asked when are you running? A lot before I even believed I could run.” Cousins reflected “ I know that there is a lot still to learn and that a lot of the issues in my community are not going to be quick fixes they will take time. I am here to try and do politics differently. I commit to not only running my campaign transparently but if elected to keep the transparency.”

Last January after having fallen off a large ice blockade at the University Ave and Buchanan Dr Intersection, Daniel Said enough was enough. That night they took a shovel and chiselled a path through so pedestrians could safely cross the street. Cousins says “It is appalling that such a problem was left for weeks. It is a clear message from our city that it is not prioritizing the safety of our citizens.”

Cousins has yet to get to all the doors in their ward but hopes to soon. Due to election rules. They are unable to visit secure apartment buildings at this time but encourage renters to reach out with their issues. Either via Twitter @Daniel4Ward5 or by email at danielcousinsward5@gmail.com.