Bring Back the Bus: Terry Shortt’s Path to a Practical Roadmap for the County

At 10 in the morning at Bailey’s Casual Dining, I sat down with mayoral candidate Terry Shortt to get to know the person behind the platform. I had my questions, we had our coffee, and we figured we’d talk for about half an hour. We stayed for two.

Relaxed and ready to chat, Terry had plenty to share. Our conversation wound through his childhood on a fourteen-cow dairy farm, the businesses he remembered along Picton’s Main Street, and the challenges he believes the County needs to confront. Often, a question about the future brought us back to something he had experienced in the past.

What struck me was how much consideration he gave to circumstances he didn’t particularly like; tourism was one example. Despite his reservations about its effects on County life, he had clearly spent time thinking about how to make it work. Getting to know him meant exploring how those two positions fit together.

Then, during a discussion about roads, he offered a memory that stayed with me for the rest of the day (and into the evening, as I work on this article, with another coffee nearby).

Before amalgamation, Terry recalled, the township’s road superintendent would take councillors out on a bus to inspect the roads together. They could see the conditions for themselves, discuss what needed fixing, and establish priorities for the year. As Terry remembered it, the approach worked.

“Bring back the bus!”, we joked… but kinda, seriously. Over the course of our conversation, I began to see why that experience appealed to him. 

“Yeah, bring back the bus. It sounds stupid, but it was effective!” Terry Shortt recalls.

Much of what Terry shared came back to understanding the situation in front of you and deciding what you could realistically do about it… and often, that would be done together. To understand how he assesses those situations today, it helps to know the County he grew up in.

(1.1) Coffee Chat: The Person Behind the Platform: This is the first article from a multi-part series of “Coffee Chat: The Person Behind the Platform”, where PEC Connect explores the personal side of politics in Prince Edward County.

Milk Cans and Main Street: Terry Shortt on Picton’s Past

Terry grew up on a County farm where his family milked fourteen cows. From early childhood, he had responsibilities in the barn. His account of home began with work, family, and the farms around them.

He recalled the transition from milk cans to bulk handling as a turning point his family could not afford to follow. The equipment was expensive, he explained, and their herd was small. He explained how the effects reached beyond individual farms to the people collecting the milk and the businesses processing it.

His memories moved through dairies and cheese factories, then onto a Main Street with hardware stores and car dealerships. It was a vivid description, and he could still place businesses in buildings that now serve very different purposes (mainly restaurants and shops).

Picton, as Terry remembered it, was a service town for the community around it. 

Listening, I could understand why the morning’s discussions about the economy so often brought him back to what had disappeared. These were actual places he remembered and many changes he had watched unfold. That history helps explain his caution about promises that a new employer or development will put everything right.

It also explains some of the feeling behind a description he returned to throughout our conversation.

“I’m a realist,” repeated Terry Shortt during our coffee chat.

For Terry, that means beginning with the circumstances he believes the County actually faces, including those he would prefer were different. Whether readers share all his conclusions, his experiences offer a useful starting point for understanding how he reaches them.

Building a Future: Attracting Families and Managing Tourism

The next generation came up early in our chat. When I asked what he meant by attracting young people, he clarified that he was thinking particularly about young families who could establish a lasting home here.

“I see [youth] as young families… We want young families here, because number one, if you’re starting a family, then you’ve got a base and that base is here. And that means you’re going to be here for a while.”

“We want them to come and stay,” says Terry about inviting youth into the County.

“And everyone says the County is a wonderful place, and it is - but it has its problems. And its problem right now is employment.”

He worried about whether people could earn a living throughout the year, and about a community that has many residents with fixed incomes. In his view, housing growth needs to connect with opportunities for people to work and build their lives here.

He was candid about his own experience of trying to attract industry while on council, when those efforts had not produced the results he wanted. He described potential employers that had not materialized and returned repeatedly to the difficulty of competing with nearby municipalities.

He would still welcome industry, he said, and proposed a position dedicated to attracting small and medium-sized businesses, with regular reporting on progress. Terry’s particular emphasis was on the danger of planning around hoped-for opportunities before they exist. Terry’s caution was clear; so was the importance he placed on finding work that would let families stay.

Tourism brought that willingness to work with an imperfect situation into sharper focus. Terry did not pretend to enjoy everything about it. He spoke about traffic and the frustration of navigating busy town centres during peak season.

He also repeatedly argued that the County’s economy depends on visitors spending money, and that tourism needs to be developed because other economic opportunities cannot simply be assumed.

What interested me was how much thought he had given to something about which he had such reservations. Terry considered how to make it work, though it was clearly not his preferred version of County life.

Beyond the Ballot

Then we began talking about history, and the conversation became more personal again.

Terry has visited Aruba for many years and enjoys learning about the place through its history. Thinking about what visitors might do here, he suggested tours that would help people understand the County’s stories, buildings, and maritime past.

Soon he was telling me about his own ancestors, a family diary written in German, and the story behind his surname. His interest in sharing these details was captivating, and I asked whether he had considered writing a book. He had not, he said. Perhaps he would (I hope he does).

Here, tourism met something he personally enjoys. It offered a glimpse of what developing the visitor economy might look like through his eyes: giving people more reasons to understand the place they have come to see.

Of course, agreement that tourism matters does not settle questions about its scale, its effects on neighbours, or who benefits. Our conversation was an introduction to how he thinks about those questions. His starting point was acceptance of an economic reality he believes the County must work with.

Financial Realism: Balancing Taxes, Services, and Infrastructure

When we returned to municipal finances, that emphasis on working with what is available appeared again.

Terry wants to restrain tax increases while rebuilding financial capacity and protecting essential services. He expects difficult choices about spending, and spoke about asking departments to prepare budgets within clearer limits. Roads were among the services he repeatedly identified as necessary.

The balance matters here. Keeping taxes manageable, maintaining services, and setting money aside all draw on available resources. The choices behind those goals require closer examination than a coffee chat can provide.

His road inspection story made his preference for practical oversight easier to picture. 

“In the spring, our road superintendent would take us out on a bus. We'd drive every road in the township, and we'd decide which roads needed to be fixed,” remembers Terry.

“The best thing that ever came of the roads department was Steve Carroll, and he was the road superintendent. He came up with a 20-year plan, and it was to take the worst road and fix it. The next worst road, and fix it. In 20 years, you would have them all done. And unfortunately, Steve passed away shortly after introducing this.” 

“In the very next budget, [roads] were back on the table. You've got to take roads away from the politicians and give it to the roads department, and don't just use their discretion. Go for a drive with them, check out the roads. Make sure they're doing it.” Terry suggests.

Terry wants councillors to understand the conditions behind decisions, and road priorities to be less vulnerable to political pressure. Road conditions, service expectations, and financing are common pain points for both residents and County staff, and Terry’s remembered bus trip brought the human task of understanding those choices into view. 

Why Communication Matters: Building Community Trust

That brought us to communication, and to the people who might see the County differently from him.

Terry acknowledged the divide between established residents and newcomers. His own welcome was straightforward: 

“I don’t care how long you’ve been here, if you’re here, you’re part of the County”, says Terry about all Prince Edward County residents.

He also expressed frustration with people arriving and expecting the community to operate as their previous home had. He wants newcomers to appreciate the place they have joined, while recognizing that longtime residents need to become more accepting too.

One story gave that discussion a more human shape. While campaigning on an earlier occasion, he visited a recently arrived family. The woman who answered was guarded and asked him to leave his information outside the door. Two years later, he recalled, they were serving on a committee together.

I liked that the story continued beyond the awkward introduction. It allowed for familiarity to grow and for someone’s relationship with the community to change. His sense of belonging places considerable value on participation and knowing your neighbours, and Terry’s neighbourly encounter showed how those connections can develop over time.

It also leaves a worthwhile conversation about the different ways people participate, and how established residents and newcomers can learn from one another. Sharing a place does not mean everyone arrives with the same expectations of it.

Terry’s answer to disagreement centred on transparent explanations.

“Communication is the key in everything. If you communicate to someone the reason why you’re doing it, whether they agree with it or not, they’ll at least understand why”, though Terry also distinguished understanding a decision from supporting it. 

“They could be just 100% opposed, but at least they’ll know why, and it’s a lot better than saying ‘never mind, this is the way we’re doing it’. You’ve got to explain yourself, to be open. And that, I think, is what’s missing with council the way it is now. People are being told ‘never mind, it’s just the way it is’, with no explanation [and] you need to explain yourself.”

That seemed closely connected to his frustration with residents feeling decisions are handed down without enough explanation.

His approach to leading the council would begin with individual conversations. He described meeting councillors, learning their priorities, and looking for common areas that could help the group work together. He wants councillors to think about the whole County, even though they are elected through wards.

He also favours a return to specialized committees, where smaller groups could develop a deeper understanding of particular subjects before bringing recommendations to council. His recollections of that system were another example of him looking to earlier experience for something he believes could work again.

Aboard the Bus: A Shared Vision for the Future

By this point, our planned half hour was long behind us.

The conversation had wandered, comfortably, between family history and the practical responsibilities of municipal government.

We’d had multiple cups of coffee (thank you to Katie, who kept them coming!), and the chat warmed up with our common belief that residents have good intentions for the County and our community, though sometimes, we may disagree on what it needs to get there. After all, not everything affects us equally.

Getting to know Terry was a pleasure because he was willing to share so much of the experience behind his views. He had firm opinions, but also room to acknowledge that an option he disliked might still be one he believed the County needed. 

But also, I keep coming back to the bus. In Terry’s recollection, it put people in a position to see what needed attention and discuss what they could do about it. Our coffee chat offered a similar opportunity to understand what he notices, what worries him, and which experiences he brings to those discussions.

We may look out the same window and focus on different parts of the big picture. After two hours over coffee, I had a much better understanding of the County and community that Terry sees through his perspective.

Thanks for the coffee chat, Terry!

-Andreea ☕

P.S. Visit our page for more articles on local matters, including information on the municipal election.

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A Note from PEC Connect: PEC Connect is not endorsing any candidate in this election. Our goal in providing this coverage is through the lens of community involvement, offering insight so that residents may make their own informed decisions at the ballot box. 

We warmly invite your questions and engagement, and we encourage you to reach out directly to candidates to better understand them and their platforms.

We may not all agree on who the right person for the job is, and that is simply the nature of democracy and community. But differences of opinion should never discourage constructive criticism, healthy skepticism, and, above all, open communication.

We want to extend a sincere thank-you to Brad, Terry, and Ernie for their time, candour, and for sharing chat with us. We hope to continue these meaningful discussions going forward.

And while we are not endorsing anyone, we do encourage everyone to get out and vote! You can find more about how to vote here.

A special thank you as well to the staff at Bailey’s Casual Diner for their wonderful service during our interview with Terry.