Globe and Mail copies return to P.E.I. — with the Island on front page

After a month-and-a-half hiatus, the first Globe and Mail print copies arrived on P.E.I. on Saturday with a little treat greeting Islanders: reading about their home on the front page.

The papers arrived on an Air Canada flight just before noon and were in the Bookmark store in Charlottetown.

It's a once-a-week print edition return to the Island for the Globe after delivery was cancelled in the Maritimes on Dec. 1. Since then, Saturday's edition has been flown into Halifax, where there are several hundred subscribers, and now, to P.E.I.

There are 99 subscribers on the Island, with one or two additional customers added most days, said Bookmark owner Dan MacDonald. 

"Most people are expressing their happiness at having the Globe and Mail available again in its physical format and are very kindly thanking us for providing this service," he said on Saturday. 

"We have had at least one customer volunteer to pick the papers up at the airport for us, and today we had one customer from Summerside picking up their paper that offered to deliver other copies to a central location in Summerside."

As an added surprise for early subscribers, the front page featured a drawing of the Island and the feature story was about immigration on P.E.I. and whether it was a model for the country.

The cost for each paper will be $9.40 plus tax.

The price was set by the Globe, MacDonald said, so that shipping costs could be recouped. The store is offering a monthly subscription so people prepay for four weeks and can pick up the papers on Saturdays.

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