Editor:
The recent Guardian article “Pate fired, government officials say” contains misleading government statements. I was not fired. I quit. I have the documents to prove it.
I quit because my work was frustrated by the director of Social Services and by unsympathetic members of the committee.
The contract, in my view, was terminated by me in an email Jan. 27 to Chris LeClair. It is a matter of fact when a contract is ended. The best way to establish the facts is put it in writing, which I did.
It was obvious to me that no one with any honour could serve under those circumstances. Islanders with disabilities expect me to advocate on their behalf not become a puppet of the government.
Verna Lynne Weeks, communications officer for Social Services, said in the article “Pate received notification of this in a letter from the Deputy Minister Sharon Cameron in February.” The Feb. 12 letter from the deputy was, in my opinion, a case of closing the gate after the horse has left the barn. The contract was already terminated.
I resigned 16 days before the deputy minister purported to end the contract. Her letter is an attempt, in my opinion, to cover up the issue. I believe the government would like to discredit PEI Disability Alert because it is effective at holding them accountable.
Barry Schmidl of the PEI Council of the Disabled, is quoted in The Guardian backing up Weeks. In my opinion, Schmidl was not a party to the agreement and doesn’t know what he is talking about.
I did not leave the SRC on a whim or pique. The reasons for leaving the SRC were tied to what I saw as the ongoing campaign by the director of Social Services to frustrate my work. I got the clear impression the director did not want me on the committee.
There was also contention with the committee over seniors representation and the logical suggestion to wait until the winter weather was past for the public meetings. All of my points were supported by the premier’s office or I would not have made them.
Stephen Pate,Charlottetown
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