Borden-Carleton has long welcomed to visitors to the island, but now those living in the region have a chance to do something unprecedented in Prince Edward Island’s political history.
They could create a tie between the province’s two opposition parties.
The former Tory MLA resigned late last year to run for the federal conservatives, which left his seat in Borden-Kinkora empty.
P.E.I.’s four major political parties have named their candidates. The official call for nominations doesn’t close until Jan. 19.
Green Candidate Matt MacFarlane has run twice before. He said he heard much of the same on the campaign trial this time around.
“To be frank, if all the issues were solved from the last two elections I ran in, and there were no more concerns, well, I’d probably stay home, but unfortunately there’s a number of concerns and the concerns are just getting bigger,” said MacFarlane.
If MacFarlane wins, the P.E.I. Greens will tie the P.E.I. Liberals for second most seats, bringing into question which would serve as official opposition. That hasn’t ever happened on the island, and it’s not clear which party would take the role.
P.E.I. NDP candidate Karen Morton is vying to be the second ever provincial New Democrat elected on the island.
When Morton was asked about what she would if she won, she said she would be “a voice against 21 conservative voices.”
“I believe I can be that voice that says, ‘You’re going to make the final decision. Have you considered this problem, this issue, this side of things?’”
P.E.I. Liberal candidate Gordon Sobey said that, despite poor performance in the last two elections, the P.E.I. liberal party is re-energized.
“A vote for the Liberal party is much better than putting another backbench MLA in there, because we can make them work harder, and that’ll get us good government,” said Sobey.
A Liberal victory would secure their status as official opposition.
The P.E.I. PC party did not make their candidate available for comment as of this writing.
Many commentators consider by-elections to be a referendum on the ruling party. However, the King government is under no threat. No matter what happens in this district, they will retain a strong majority, at least 21 of the 27 available seats.
District 19 residents go to the polls February 5.
