King puts the ‘Progressive’ back in Tory party

We’re alive baby!” That may very well be the most memorable line from Dennis King, the newly-minted leader of the Progressive Conservative party, during his victory speech Saturday in Charlottetown.

King won on the second ballot with 2,071 votes, more than 1,200 votes ahead of his nearest challenger, Allan Dale.

The former Tory strategist may very well be right that there is a momentum building within the battered and bruised PC party. The 4,222 votes cast at the leadership convention make it the largest leadership contest the party has ever held. And for a party that has been able to torpedo its own success time and time again, for once they may have made the right decision.

There is no question that King is an unknown entity. There is a long list of party hacks who have tried to come out from the shadows of a party’s backroom only to wither under the spotlight.

But King is already off to a strong start.

First and foremost, he has come out in favour of proportional representation and describes himself as pro-choice. That will no question put him at odds with many the old guard in his own party.

But it opens up the party to a whole new generation of voters that have been flocking — if you can believe the polls — to the Green party.

Putting the “Progressive” back into the Progressive Conservative party will not only position the party for electoral success, it is the right thing to do.

We shudder at the possibility that Kevin Arsenault could have taken the reins of one of P.E.I.’s most powerful political franchises.

Arsenault, who advocated for reduced funding for abortion services, drew the support of the Torontobased, socially conservative Campaign Life Coalition and the pro-life Right Now campaign.

Island voters, those very voters who elected the first premier of non-European descent, the first woman premier and the first openly gay premier, showed clearly that we are a progressive province in this nation. We are not prepared to turn back the hands of time.

Still, King cannot ignore the fact there are those out there who hold these beliefs, many of whom read this paper and more importantly vote.

Arsenault garnered a third-place finish with 590 votes, beating out Sarah Stewart-Clark and Shawn Driscoll. But the popularity of so-called left-leaning parties, like the Green party, prove that Islanders have more important issues to debate. This election will not be won or lost on these social issues.

King has his work cut out for him.

But he promises not to rest on his laurels. He wants to build on the momentum, plan to consult province wide on a policy platform and has promised an “ambitious schedule of nominations.”

Time is ticking. An election could be called at any time. He has no choice but to launch an ambitious plan.

What we do know is there is a huge core of Prince Edward Island voters who have voted Tory in the past and want an excuse to vote Tory in the future.