Rain, shine, frost or fog, Ray Campbell walks by the little pond near Government House in Charlottetown every day.
And when he looks at the snow, garbage and pavement pucks piled up right beside Governor’s Pond, he sees just one thing: “An eyesore.”
“It just looks like a pile of pollution,” Campbell said. “The snow has droplets of oil, anti-freeze, the brine from the bottom of cars, and it’s seeping into the watershed there where the ducks and other animals [and] creatures live.”
He said he contacted people with the provincial government who he thought could get it fixed up. That hasn’t happened yet.
Along with chunks of pavement, a walk around the pond reveals bits of plastic, pizza boxes, coffee cups and other assorted grime.
“Nobody seems to be sticking up for the creatures down here in this little pond,” Campbell said. “Somebody has to quack for the ducks. It might as well be me.”
Other people who walk around the pond and spend time watching the ducks said the same thing.
‘We need to take this kind of thing seriously’
Fouad Haddad walks the area with his wife and dog as often as he can. He was taking pictures of the ducks just before he talked to CBC News.
“I was born and raised in this neighbourhood. I love this,” he said, looking at the pond. “I’d like to see even better drainage and care for this little habitat that the birds have.
“It’s always nice to see the ducks here. A lot of people enjoy their view,” he said. “The snow pile-up … it should be piled up somewhere else and trucked away. Absolutely.”
Regina Russell also visits the pond regularly, taking pictures and sharing them on social media. Coming down and watching the ducks is a highlight for her.
Seeing the blackened snow banks and debris piled up?
Not so much.
“I didn’t realize they were banking the snow there, or what was in the snow, but I imagine it would be something that could be potentially harmful for the pond,” she said. “We need to take this kind of thing seriously.”
‘Urban ponds are regularly affected by runoff’
A study from 2019 looking at the water quality and creatures living in ponds in Charlottetown had choice words for Governor’s Pond, calling the ecological health of the pond “very poor.”
The Ellen’s Creek Watershed Report Card from 2023 had similar findings, giving Governor’s Pond a “fairly poor” rating regarding the number of organisms in the water. That translates to “significant organic pollution,” the report said.
