Fall legislature sitting certainly memorable
The fall session of the legislature has to go down as one of the most memorable in recent years and should be viewed as a sign of things to come as the clock ticks down to the 2019 election.
At 22 days, it was the second longest fall sitting since the Pat Binns government began the practice of holding two sittings a year over 20 years ago. While many of the 18 bills on the order paper were amendments to current laws to reflect changing circumstances, there were three bills that broke new ground.
In each instance, P.E.I. was the last, or at least among the last, jurisdictions in the county to enact the legislation. That is not always a bad thing, since there is an opportunity to study the successes and failures in other provinces.
The list included the long awaited Water Act, protection for whistleblowers and a requirement for those lobbying government to be registered.
As the Wade MacLauchlan government pursued its legislative agenda, the Liberals found themselves face-to-face
with a rejuvenated opposition. For the first time since the resignation of Olive Crane in 2012, the Progressive Conservatives had a permanent leader inside the rail. James Aylward provided a steady hand at the helm, landing some direct hits to Premier MacLauchlan and his ministers on everything from deficiencies in mental health services to the cost of a new carbon tax Ottawa is mandating the provinces introduce in 2018.
Green Party Leader Dr. Peter Bevan Baker gave another strong performance, and for the last week of the session was joined by newly-minted Charlotte town Park dale MLA Hannah Bell. Her victory in the seat formerly held by senior cabinet minister Doug Currie means there are 10 opposition members and they showed their renewed strength this sitting.
Both parties proposed significant amendments to the three main pieces of legislation and introduced private members bills of their own. Don’t expect that trend to slow down when MLAs return to their seats in early April for the spring session. Aylward is anxious to present his party as a government in waiting and will be trying to persuade Islanders to view him as a potential premier.
He showed signs of growing into the role as the session progressed and he will try to build on that next spring. In addition to trying to gain ground on the Liberals, the Conservatives also have to widen the gap in public opinion polls between them and the Green Party.
Bevan Baker has already broken new ground by doubling the size of his caucus and he will be working towards cracking that political glass ceiling even further in 2019.
It will be no easy ride to a second term (and a fourth Liberal mandate) for MacLauchlan and, if the premier’s popularity continues to drop in the spring omnibus poll, both of the opposition parties could start to smell political blood.