P.E.I. premier, PCs tout election readiness

P.E.I.'s Progressive Conservative party is gearing up for an election one in which the party believes it cantake seats from the province's two opposition parties.

Premier Dennis King delivered an election-style speech at the party's annual general meeting Wednesday night, talking up his government's achievements for nearly half an hour.

The province's next election is scheduled for Oct. 2, 2023.

In the past King has said he would stick to the province's fixed election date.

On Wednesday he said that is still "the day that we're looking toward, but I think in three-and-a-half years we've learned to expect the unexpected.

"So who knows what could happen? But every party should be ready for an election year," he said.

Targeting opposition seats

King made it clear his party will look to cash in on the popularity of his government by targeting seats currently held by the Greens and Liberals.

"When I toured Prince Edward Island from tip-to-tip this summer, we focused a lot on Charlottetown, on Summerside and West Prince, take from that what you will," King told a crowd of about 100 party faithful.

Most seats in Charlottetown and Summerside are currently held by the Green Party, while three of four Liberal MLAs hail from West Prince.

Last week King announced his government will open a second premier's office in Summerside.

King began as the leader of a minority government following the 2019 election, but the PCs have picked up three more seats since then and currently hold 15 of 27 seats in the legislature.

The Greens form the Official Opposition in P.E.I., while the third-place Liberals have seen their caucus shrink from 6 to 4 seats. Sharon Cameron, who doesn't have a seat in the legislature, is set to be named the new Liberal leader at a convention on Nov. 19, the only candidate who came forward for the job.

Polls show big lead for Tories

At the PC AGM, one official involved in election readiness even suggested a sweep of all 27 seats is possible for the party next year something the Liberals pulled off in 1935. In more recent history, P.E.I.'s opposition has twice been reduced to a single seat it happened to the Liberals in 1993, then to the PCs just seven years later.

Recent polls have shown the PCs with a commanding lead over the competition, with about half of voters in a poll in August saying they would vote for the party. The King government's approval ratings have been hovering between 70 and 80 per cent.

But the government has faced recent criticism in light of the province's response to post-tropical storm Fiona, which devastated the island and knocked out power to some for as much as three weeks.

In particular, some Islanders have complained about being forced to stand in line for hours sometimes day after day to access $250 in provincial relief money distributed through the Red Cross.

Party officials said the PCs will make the final payment against their 2019 election debt before the end of the year, and that revenues have exceeded expenses so far in 2022 by $140,000.

The party said it's preparing to activate its election readiness plan, offering online training courses for election volunteers before the end of this year.

The party is also preparing to recruit candidates in the 12 districts in which it does not currently have MLAs.

It was the first AGM for the PCs since 2019, with previous meetings being cancelled as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.

Premier hints at new housing builds

Among the achievements he credited to the party, King also hinted at some future announcements. He said his government has a plan to add an extra 1,400 housing builds over the next 14 months, which he said would bring the province's vacancy rate to four per cent,

"We're going to embark on the most aggressive capital investment in housing that this province has ever seen. There's a problem here. We're tackling it head-on," King told the crowd.

Housing Minister Matthew MacKay, attending the AGM, told CBC those builds would be a mix of new government housing and private units built with government incentives. MacKay said a formal announcement will be made in the coming weeks.