Buddhist nuns grateful to have 170-dorm residence in Brudenell approved

Nine months after their initial application was denied, nuns at the Great Wisdom Buddhist Institute received unanimous approval Monday from Three Rivers town council to build their 170-dorm residence in Brudenell, P.E.I.

Instead of appealing the earlier decision, the nuns focused on improving communication and building relationships with people in the community, and address the concerns that led council to vote 7-3 against their application in September 2020.

Venerable Yvonne Tsai said the nuns were "grateful" to have their building permit approved.

"It was a great learning journey for all of us. It reminded us how important communication is and then how important it is to work with the local community hand in hand."

'They were very conciliatory'

One of the concerns from the community was the amount of land and homes purchased on P.E.I. by families of the nuns, which may sit empty when they aren't visiting. Some residents feared this would deny Islanders opportunities to purchase homes in the area.

It reminded us how important communication is and then how important it is to work with the local community hand in hand. Venerable Yvonne Tsai

Ed MacAulay, mayor of Three Rivers, said he spoke with the families of some of the nuns via Zoom over the past few months and they were "horrified" that they were causing concerns for local residents.

"They said, 'Well we don't want that, we don't want them to think we're taking their homes and so on so we will put them back on the market and do whatever it takes,'" MacAulay said.

"So they were very conciliatory and wanted to make sure the local people were not being jeopardized by the parents of the nuns because the nuns, this is their home and they really love it here. And just like any parents, [they] want to see their children doing well."

The new residence will be the second on the property in Brudenell, and will allow the 450 nuns on P.E.I. to all live in the same area. The nuns have been living in eastern P.E.I. for more than 10 years. Currently, they are spread out among residences in Brudenell, Uigg and Lower Montague.

The new residence is part of a long-term plan to build a multi-million dollar monastery for up to 1,400 nuns to study Buddhism. It could include public gardens and a playground for children in the community, Tsai said.

"We hope that we are not just building our own home. We hope that we can have some of our areas open to the public and right now we're still discussing with our neighbours as to what they would like to see happening in the community."

September start date

Work is expected to begin on the new residence in September.

That's good news for the community, MacAulay said. He said it was a different atmosphere Monday night than it was nine months ago, and that many people in the Montague and Brudenell area came out to support the nuns.

"They just bring a real, in my opinion, a real peacefulness to this area and they're a real pleasure to have in our community."

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