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 can take 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.

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.

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.