PEIThe question of who staffs the Town of Three Rivers’ four reception centres in times of storms and emergencies has resurfaced, and the municipality’s emergency operations manager says the answer should not be volunteer-dependent. Instead, Rae Lynn Downey is proposing the town pay people to do the work. Town’s emergency operations manager says depending on volunteers isn’t a viable optionJenna Banfield · CBC News · Posted: Dec 04, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The manager of the Three Rivers emergency operations centre, Rae Lynn Downey, plans to submit a formal proposal to the town to start paying people to run its reception centres when the need for them to be open arises. (Jane Robertson/CBC)The question of who staffs the Town of Three Rivers’ four reception centres in times of storms and emergencies has resurfaced, and the municipality’s emergency operations manager says the answer should not be volunteer-dependent. Instead, Rae Lynn Downey is proposing the town pay people to do the work. Downey said town officials learned a lot of lessons in the aftermath of post-tropical storm Fiona, including that it’s difficult to find volunteers for all four of its centres, especially when two individuals are needed to staff each one.”It’s really hard to ask people who are trying to look after their own families and get their own power to come and basically sit and be a gatekeeper at [an] emergency centre or reception centre,” Downey said.She is proposing that the best people to work at the centres are those who already work in the buildings, which include the Cardigan Fire Hall, the Lower Montague Community Centre, Cavendish Farms Wellness Centre, and the Kings Playhouse.”They know the building, they know [where everything is], what can be done, what we can offer residents,” Downey said,”I think it’s reasonable, if we’re going to ask people to work during that situation, that we offer them maybe something a little extra to compensate them for that effort.”The Kings Playhouse, Cardigan Fire Hall, Lower Montague Community Centre, and Cavendish Farms Wellness Centre are all listed as reception centres on the Town of Three Rivers website. (kingsplayhouse.com)After Fiona, Downey said Three Rivers did put measures in place to ensure residents have access to some essentials at the reception centres, even if they aren’t being staffed.Metal boxes fitted with resources have been installed outside of all of the town’s reception centres, and they are unlocked during power outages and emergencies. “Residents have the ability to go there, plug devices in, recharge their phones,” Downey said.She said there are also taps that staff can control from inside.”So if we end up in a situation where the power is out and people’s pumps aren’t working, and they need to power their devices, this will give people the ability to do that even if a centre isn’t manned.”Dowey has not formally submitted her proposal to the Three Rivers council. Once she does, it will be up to council members to decide if that is the course they will take, and what the logistics would be. ABOUT THE AUTHORJenna Banfield is an associate producer for CBC Prince Edward Island. She can be reached at jenna.banfield@cbc.caWith files from Stacey Janzer
Proposal will ask Town of Three Rivers to pay people to run emergency centres, not rely on volunteers
