Dave Winer has been blogging about his jury duty. Which got me to wondering how we select juries here in Prince Edward Island. According to the Jury Act, it’s the province’s healthcare database that’s mined:

The sheriff shall prepare a jurors roll by requisitioning from time to time from the person in charge of the register of the names of Prince Edward Island residents registered under the Health Services Payment Act R.S.P.E.I. 1988, Cap. H-2, the number of names and addresses which the sheriff anticipates will be required in the county pursuant to subsection (3) and no other information shall be transmitted.

It’s an interesting dynamic — if you want healthcare, you’ve got to be prepared to serve on a jury. Not a bad deal.

I was called to serve several times about a decade ago, but every time the trial was cancelled for some reason, and eventually, if memory serves, I received some sort of “enough already — we’re going to leave you along for now.” And I’ve not received a notice since.