Candidates face off in final debate
James Aylward, Brad Trivers address economic issues; P.E.I. Tory leadership advance polls begin Saturday
If elected as premier, the first priority for both of P.E.I.’s Progressive Conservative leadership candidates would be addressing economic challenges, albeit in different ways. A question on what they would do if elected premier was the final chance for MLAs James Aylward and Brad Trivers to make their case to Islanders during the fourth and final leadership debate, which was held at Rodd Brudenell River Resort Wednesday night.
Trivers, who was given the first opportunity to answer, talked about going out to all 27 districts and creating economic development plans.
“The first thing I’m going to do is say, ‘Candidates, I want you to go out to your districts and I want you to hit the ground and I want you to talk to Islanders and come up with an economic development plan for your districts,’” said Trivers, who also addressed building communities in his closing remarks. “Government needs to support and help grow our communities. When people spend their tax dollars, they want to see the money spent in their community, on the local roads, local schools and local health care.” Aylward’s answer addressed government overspending and lack of budget control by incorporating a “budget czar.” “A budget czar would have overreaching responsibilities, to go into any given department, look at their books and look at their finances,” said Aylward, adding that the person appointed would have to be transparent and have an extensive financial background.
“If we continually go down the road we’re going in and allocating the budget… towards the end of the year, (if) we’ve got a million dollars left to spend, you see the department spending it. Those tax dollars, if they’re not spent, should be going back to Islanders.”
The final forum saw the candidates address about 30 individuals in person. The event was also live-streamed. The rest of the debate saw the two candidates field questions on a variety of topics, from federal marijuana legalization and tax reform to more local issues such as how to combat poverty in the province and strengthening P.E.I.’s declining farming population. Both candidates agreed on a number of issues, with a theme of supporting entrepreneurs brought up a number of times by both.
One of the few times the two candidates outright disagreed was regarding the e-gaming scandal. While Aylward has pledged to hold an e-gaming inquiry if elected, Trivers said it would be unnecessary and that the issue could be dealt with through the public accounts committee.
Party members will have their first chance to vote during advance polls this Saturday.
The leader will be announced on Friday, Oct 20, at Rodd Brudenell River Resort.