'It was a different beast': P.E.I. premier weighs in on Fiona's impact, another year in office

A year-end interview with P.E.I.’s premier CTV’s Todd Battis sits down with P.E.I. Premier Dennis King to talk about the impact and fallout of post-tropical storm Fiona, and more.

As Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King looks back at the year, he agrees with many that post-tropical storm Fiona stands out as one of the most impactful incidents on the island in 2022.

"A lot of us have talked about post-Fiona and a lot of us here feel like we haven't really gotten to post-Fiona yet just because of the size of the devastation that we've been dealing with," said King, in a year-end interview with CTV Atlantic's Todd Battis.

"There are still houses across P.E.I. that have tarps on their roofs as they await the steel or shingles to go back on, and you see the trees down or the banks that were eroded. I mean, we were hit with quite a wall up in September here and it hurt. It's impacted all of us in many ways and we're still dealing with it today."

King says, thankfully, Islanders are and remain resilient.

"We're strong, we're stubborn as Islanders and we'll see our way through it, but it's been a tough go."

Not only did Fiona affect residents themselves, but also the physical look of the island. The storm was responsible for destroying iconic landmarks and extreme coastal erosion.

"We were talking with some of our tourism advertisers and people who work in tourism and they see photos pre-Fiona and they see photos post-Fiona and they're like, 'Wow. Your whole island has changed.' And that's exactly the way we feel," said King.

According to King, besides the physical appearance of P.E.I., the storm also changed the internal make up of Islanders.

"I heard it said that we've lost some of our innocence through it all and I think there's a certain amount of truth to that," said King.

"I've lived through snowstorms and other hurricanes and they've been difficult, and this is the first one where I was in bed scared and afraid, listening to the wind. It was a different beast than anything we've ever dealt with before. It was simply terrifying."

King says the damage Fiona left behind was unlike anything Islanders had experienced before. And, despite the measures residents took to prepare for the storm, many Islanders were not prepared to wake up and witness its aftermath.

"We knew it was going to be a big event. I don't think anyone really thought it would turn out the way it did. It was tough."

As far as the Island's recovery response, King believes it was strong and timely.

"I think there's always difficulty. I know people probably don't understand when I say it's harder than you think to give away money and pass out money, in particular, when we have a new system of delivery through our revenue partners with CRA and Ottawa. So, there's nothing that I can just press a button and send out money the way we maybe used to be able to do," he said.

"So, all-in-all, the fact that we got relief payments out to 75,000 Islanders in 20 or 25 days, while some maybe were frustrated with that pace, overall, that was probably the best and fastest way that we could have done it. We always wish it could be faster for sure, but the relief packages continue. We're still trying to count up the full damage of Fiona, but we're in the several hundreds of millions of dollars, I'm sure, overall when it's all tied up."

King said most Islanders tried their best to prepare for Fiona and many thought they were.

"I think there's never been a response pre-hurricane that we had seen here, but the reality of what we had to deal with after was unlike anything we've ever had to deal with before."

According to King, Fiona's impact on P.E.I. was the only event in Canadian history where every resident of a province lost electricity.

"So, that just shows right there how significant of a hit we took as a province."

Prince Edward Island's electric utility, Maritime Electric, has said it will cost about $35 million to repair damage to the company's distribution system caused by Fiona.

Around mid-December, a spokesperson for Maritime Electric said that estimate was based on invoices received to date, adding that a final total should be available in January 2023.

Since the storm, King says discussions with the federal government have taken place about making sure the island is better prepared for future events like Fiona.

"We have been to Ottawa since the event and have been talking with the federal government about a 10 or 15 year plan to sort of get P.E.I. more adapted for this if this is to be the new "norm," which people are suggesting it will be," said King.

"So, that would include burying power lines, that would include getting shoreline protection up-to-date and more targeted perhaps, it would require a number of those things. It will require a lot of money. I think the federal government has responded in a good way to Fiona and the relief, but they've also been very open to saying this is the climate adaptation that we're going to need... There might be an opportunity for P.E.I. to be a laboratory for the rest of the country."

King adds, one thing learned from Fiona is that the island can't continue doing things how they have in the past, saying the sooner it adapts and changes, the better it will do in the long term.

CARBON TAX

In July 2023, the federal government's carbon tax is set to come into effect, resulting in a 17.4 cents-per-litre increase to gasoline. For Islanders, that's nearly $250 every three months.

"To be clear, we've never been opposed to carbon tax. We've been wanting to make sure that we make adaptation the focus, as opposed to just simple, straight across the board taxation," said King.

"So, we had been utilizing the funds developed through the carbon tax pricing system in place to reinvest and to get Islanders ready for some of the things we just talked about. We invested in 'Tooney transit.' So, anyone living in rural Prince Edward Island can ride the bus for $2 a day to Charlottetown, to Summerside, etcetera. We've invested in one of the most comprehensive heat pump programs, where now everyone under $75,000 of household income gets a free heat pump, so we've done a lot of those things and that's what we want to continue to do."

HEALTH CARE

Another problem making headlines in P.E.I., and countrywide, is the health-care crisis.

Like many provinces, P.E.I. is experiencing long wait times for surgeries and is having trouble attracting doctors, among many other problems in the health system.

King agrees it's a "huge issue" across the country and beyond.

"I think we would continue to need to innovate, look for alternative solutions to allow scopes of practices to evolve so that we can continue to serve those who need it as close to home as possible. What we did with Pharmacy Plus for example was allow pharmacists to expand its scope of practice so they could treat 32 common ailments, which keeps people out of walk-in clinics, it keeps people out of the emergency rooms and perhaps family doctor visits have been a challenge," said King.

"So, we're treating about 2,000 people a week, or close to it, through our pharmacies. That takes a little bit of strain off the system and that's just one innovative solution, for example, of many that we need to continue to find. But, you know, it's changing. We can't keep saying we need to fix health care. We need to adapt and change health-care delivery across P.E.I., across the region, across the country, and we're prepared to do that. It will take money, but it will take creativity, it will take patience and it will take understanding of what we're doing and how we're getting there."

FALL ELECTION

Prince Edward Island is scheduled to have an election in 2023.

With it still a few months away, King says his focus remains on Fiona recovery and not the upcoming election.

"We're still trying to get past Fiona, we're still trying to deal with the highest cost of living that we've been dealing with in almost a century, and some of the other challenges that we've been facing. So, that remains our priority. Housing for example is a big, big issue that we've been tackling head-on here," he said.

When the election comes around in 2023, Kings says he hopes Islanders will see him as someone who can continue to play a strong role in making the province better.

"I think my pitch when I get to make it to Islanders is that I think, under the most difficult and trying circumstances in the last century or maybe in our history, that we've led a very solid government through those difficult times. We've been very people-focused as we promised we would be, we've responded to people's concerns and needs faster and probably more broadly than any other government in the history of P.E.I. and we're proud of that, but we have much work to remain,"said King.

"We've got to continue to re-tool health care, we have to take on the housing crisis that we're facing, which we have and will continue to invest in, and I think we've changed politics here. I think we've taken the sharp edges of partisan politics and I'm proud of that.”