Plenty happening on the political front
The threat of an election is now on the backburner but there is still plenty of reasons to keep tuned in to the province’s political scene. Premier Wade MacLauchlan had many Islanders wondering whether he paid a visit to Lieutenant Governor Antoinette Perry to drop the election writ before he headed out to last weekend’s Liberal party annual meeting in Cornwall. However, that proved to be nothing more than speculation. The premier’s comment that the riding associations in the 27 new districts created by electoral redistribution should have their candidates chosen by the end of June has refocused that talk to the fall.
Under such a scenario, the candidates would attend events in the riding during the summer months and then be ready to hit the ground running when the vote was called. Only time will tell if the premier is toying with Islanders once again.
On the same day, New Democrats chose Joe Byrne to lead them into the next election. A veteran of a number of campaigns in the federal riding of Charlottetown, Byrne faces an uphill battle as he tries to lead the party back to a presence inside the legislature. The NDP would do well to follow the Green Party playbook from the 2015 election and concentrate their efforts on trying to get Byrne elected. While the two parties were roughly equal in the percentage of votes they attracted in 2015, Peter Bevan-Baker won a seat and was later able to use his platform as an MLA and his own personal popularity to help another Green MLA get elected.
The next election will not only see Islanders choose a government, but the possibly a new electoral system. When Islanders chose mixed-member proportional in a plebiscite that featured a preferential ballot, the premier chose to ignore the result. Instead he said that option, along with another one yet to be named, will be placed on a ballot question to be held in conjunction with the next election. Conservative leader James Aylward wants the second option to be a consensus-style government, similar to what exists in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. His proposal has certainly generated plenty of discussion but the lineup backing him (especially in political circles) is short.
When the campaign does come, Aylward will be facing questions from his opponents on why he is seeking to become premier under a political process he is now on record as opposing. The premier made reference to that when he told the Cornwall crowd he wondered what the annual meeting of a party that doesn’t want to exist looks like. Independent MLA Bush Dumville is using every opportunity to be a thorn in the premier’s side; questioning him about his role in directing the work of legislature committees – especially Public Accounts. The premier has denied any such role, but it is obvious Dumville is getting under his skin as he looks more agitated with each passing question.