Why it's taking so long for P.E.I.'s political parties to release their full platforms
CBC
On the morning of Day 16 of Prince Edward Island's election campaign, the Liberals were about to release their full platform, the Greens were preparing to, and the Progressive Conservatives still hadn't said anything about the environment.
Only the NDP had released its full platform in the first week of the campaign. Still, the costing won't come out until this weekend.
All these platforms were presumably written before the April 3 election was called. Why aren't they released right away?
On Wednesday, CBC News asked the four major leaders that question.
NDP Leader Michelle Neill said it is important to be clear with the voters, and that's they released their policies early.
"I want every single person on P.E.I. to know exactly what we stand for — be able to read all of the little fine print, the details, everything," said Neill. "That's why we put it out early."
The party is still costing out its promises, she said, and will release that by the end of the coming weekend.
In 2019, the Green Party released its full platform early in the campaign. Leader Peter Bevan-Baker said that was important at the time, in order to establish the party's position when it was still new as a contender for government on the Island.
But he argued that releasing a platform plank by plank, as the party has done this campaign, can actually improve public debate.
"It is so important in elections that each individual issue comes forward and is given enough time," he said.
"When you do your platform in planks as we have, you give space for those other issues to be properly discussed. I'm not sure if that would have happened had all the parties come out with their entire platforms."
PC Leader Dennis King said his party's plan is designed to prioritize issues, making reference to a focus on health in the first week.
"That was our plan all along. I think Islanders want to know specifically, right off the bat, what we were talking about in health care," said King.
"I think that's an important way to roll it out."
