CHARLOTTETOWN — Prince Edward Island's election campaign rolled through its final weekend with the Progressive Conservatives in a celebratory mood, while the Liberals steeled themselves to battle it out with the Greens heading to the ballot Monday.
Voters in the province have been buffeted by shortages in health care and housing services, and pummeled by effects of climate change.
Heading into the election campaign the Progressive Conservatives held 15 of the legislature's 27 seats, the Green Party had eight seats and the Liberals held four.
On Saturday, Dennis King, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, held a rally at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown where most of the 600 chairs in the stadium were filled.
In the room bathed in blue light, supporters waved blue foam fingers, rattled blue clappers in the shape of a tiny hand and banged white tube-shaped noisemakers.
King rolled into the arena in his bus accompanied by the other 26 candidates, his wife and kids.
He shook hands and exchanged hugs with supporters as he made his way to the stage. He held his arms up in the air in a triumphant gesture to the songs "Unstoppable" by Australian pop singer Sia and "Don't Stop Believin'" by American band Journey as he got to the podium. All 27 candidates wore something blue.
In his roughly 30-minute speech, King summed up his election platform, highlighted every candidate by name and praised his party for running a positive campaign.
In an interview following the rally he said "we really ran the campaign that we wanted to run" and added that he feels "very comfortable" going into the election Monday.
"I think we went with positivity. I felt the other parties were chasing us the whole time following what we were doing and they really could only zero in on complaints as opposed to offering a vision."
Liberal Leader Sharon Cameron called her party's campaign "nothing short of miraculous."
She noted the short timeline from taking leadership of her party in November to rebuilding it and having 25 candidates in the election.
"I think we had a really, really well-run campaign," she said in an interview Sunday. "I couldn't be more pleased."
She has been vocal about the challenges that come with a snap election, including finding candidates but she said they did "extremely well."
"I don't think there's anything we could have done differently."
The Progressive Conservatives have 27 candidates while the Liberals and Greens have 25 each.
When asked if the Liberals were running to form the official Opposition, Cameron said it was a difficult question to answer.
"I think one of the things that I wanted to set out to accomplish was to rebuild the party because typically, when a party, you know, implodes the way ours did, it takes a couple of terms, but we recognize that we wanted to rebuild right away," she said. "So it's really for the electorate to decide what our fate is."
On Monday, she said she'll be voting for the red team.
"The Liberal team," she said with a laugh.
Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker joined a Trans rights march Sunday as it snaked through downtown Charlottetown on streets flanked by old red-brick churches, and restaurants. The march came to a stop at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in front of the city’s war memorial.
Bevan-Baker, in his signature green puffer jacket and thick blue gloves, chatted with people as they walked.
In an interview, he said he felt the campaign went "really well" and was "organized and professional."
"I mean, there were really no awkward moments for us," he said. "I think our message was very clear."
Because of the short notice of the election, he said his party doesn't have candidates running in every district.
"I wish we had got a full slate of candidates," he said." And we came very close, of course, we just have two districts where we don't have somebody running."
He said the Greens ran a campaign with the aim of forming a government.
"The obvious thing to do is you are the government in waiting and when the election comes around, your goal is to form government. Right from before day one of the campaign that has been our goal and remains our goal," Bevan-Baker said. "I'm not conceding anything."
When asked who he will be voting for on Monday, Bevan-Baker laughed.
"I will be voting for that really nice Green guy, Peanut Butter Bacon, as he is called by some constituents,” he said, laughing. “Yes. Peanut Butter Bacon. That's who I'm rooting for.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2023.
Hina Alam, The Canadian Press
