https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-leaders-debate-1.6792422
P.E.I. party leaders debate health care, housing ahead of provincial election
Land ownership, climate change segment sparks feisty debate between the leaders
CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin moderated the debate between Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker, Liberal Leader Sharon Cameron, NDP Leader Michelle Neill and Progressive Conservative Leader Dennis King.
It was a far cry from the collegial, polite debate of the 2019 election — which saw the leaders of the day pretty well in lockstep on the big issues.
To get to the heart of the issues facing voters this election, CBC News drew directly from questions submitted by the audience. The leaders weren't given the questions before the debate.
Addressing the health care crisis
The debate kicked off with questions about the health-care system. Health care has been one of the biggest issues on the campaign trail, along with housing and the cost of living.
As debate opened, Bevan-Baker slammed the Liberals and PCs, saying previous governments have been "hellbent" on maintaining control and status quo within the system instead of fixing it. He added that the Greens have held "government's feet to the fire" as the Official Opposition for the last four years.
"Let's remember that the health-care system that we are labouring under and that health-care workers are struggling with was created by the Liberal and Tory governments," he said.
Green
Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker took at shot at PC Leader Dennis King at
Monday's debate, saying Islanders have 'lost trust' in his party's
leadership. (Brian McInnis/CP Photo)
"What we need to do is take the political meddling out of the system, allow Health P.E.I. to have the autonomy and authority it needs to do its proper job. Get the politics out of the health-care system."
Cameron turned her attention to King, too, after taking a jab at the Greens. She said she's taken leadership of the Liberal Party because the Greens have been flailing as the Opposition.
She then questioned how King can say P.E.I. has the greatest health-care system in the country when tens of thousands are on the patient registry awaiting a primary care physician.
"What do you say to the 30,000 people and seniors who haven't had a doctor for six to eight years? What do you say to them and how do you convince them that this is the best health-care system we've ever had?"
King defended his government, saying the "finger-pointing" by opposition parties "doesn't get anything done," while his party has acted to help Islanders with initiatives like Pharmacy Plus and the Maple app.
"There are no simple solutions here, we have to roll up our sleeves and find Island solutions to serve our Island population," he said.
Neill said the health-care system is failing partially because of the amount of paperwork doctors are forced to take on when they could be seeing patients.
"That's something that we need to change. We shouldn't be paying a doctor their salary to be doing paperwork that can be done by an administrative assistant," she said. "That's one of the reasons why they're leaving. We have to listen to our health-care workers."
'They don't feel that anyone's listening'
While the leaders debated health care inside, about 150 nurses were protesting outside.
The P.E.I. Nurses Union has been without a contract for two years, and union president Barbara Brookins said the election has delayed negotiations with the government further.
Nurses took the opportunity of the debate to vent some frustration. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)
The lack of a contract is hindering operations and recruitment, said Brookins. There are 1,100 nurses in the province, she said, and 300 vacant positions.
"It's having a huge impact on patient care, but also on the health of our members," she said.
"Our nurses are getting tired, they're getting burned out. They're just disheartened because they don't feel that anyone's listening. And if they are listening, they're not acting fast enough."
Mental health and addictions
Inside, the focus turned to what's been called the province's "mental health crisis."
King touted the long-awaited mental health and addictions campus — a $200-million project he called the "biggest capital project" in the history of the province since the Confederation Bridge — which he said is about 40 per cent complete.
Bevan-Baker and Cameron both jumped in, with Bevan-Baker saying the project is closer to four per cent complete and "Islanders have lost trust in this premier and they're not sure what to believe."
"Islanders are very familiar with a premier who will tell us one thing and we have to double check that indeed is what's going on here," he said. "We're not sure what sort of Dennis King we have in front of us. I'm not even sure that the premier knows what he believes anymore."
P.E.I.
Liberal Party Leader Sharon Cameron, seen here chatting with
Progressive Conservative Leader Dennis King before the start of the
debate, grilled the PC leader on delays facing the planned UPEI medical
school. (Brian McInnis/CP Photo)
Cameron said not only is the mental health campus delayed but so too is the planned UPEI medical school.
"I'd agree with Peter as to, you know, why the delays and why say you're ready?" Cameron said. "How much longer will it take?"
Neill said Islanders can't continue to wait for access to mental health and addictions services.
Housing and land ownership
All four parties agreed more can be done to lead students into post-secondary education and encourage jobs in the trades in the hopes of addressing the labour shortage contributing to the province's housing crisis.
Bevan-Baker took aim at the PCs and Liberals, placing the blame for the crisis squarely on previous governments for growing the Island's population without having a housing plan in place.
"We have significant investment in publicly built housing, almost $500 million over five years. This is something that previous governments have chosen not to invest in," he said. "They have allowed the private sector not just primarily but exclusively to try and meet our housing needs and clearly it's not working."
The Island has faced a housing crisis in recent years as development has struggled to keep up with a booming population. (Jane Robertson/CBC)
When the subject turned to land ownership, which is tightly controlled on the Island, Bevan-Baker said the PCs and Liberals have "utterly failed" to implement a land-use plan.
"Let's not forget who's been in government for the last 20, 30, 40, 50, 180 years here, and it's the red team and the blue team," he said. "Without a land use plan, the ability to control land use and land development is absolutely gone."
Cameron fought back, pointing to a controversial construction project in Point Deroche as an example of the Greens' failure in Opposition. She said the party "didn't kick up a stink" about the rock wall erected along the shoreline until it was in the news.
"I want to make sure, through a commission, that we have First Nations represented, we have everybody who's not been in that conversation before," Cameron said. "And we raise it to a place where we say, 'How do we protect our environment and balance that against our economic success?'"
Bevan-Baker defended his party's criticism of Point Deroche, calling the controversial development "a monstrosity."
"A Green government would never allow that to happen," he said. "This is an absolute failure of the current administration, but I have to tell you the Liberals were no better when they were in power four years before that."
King didn't engage as Cameron and Bevan-Baker exchanged barbs.
"I don't want to step in the middle of this altercation over here to my right, but I think we need to get back to the question that is how complex land use here is on Prince Edward Island," he said. "There's a whole lot of components to this that are going to require all of us working together, and if we're just going to sit here and fight with each other I don't think we're going to make any progress."
He said P.E.I. needs to consider building up versus building out while protecting the Island's precious farmland.
Neill jumped in to say Point Deroche is an example of development that can't be grandfathered in.
"We don't want to block our beautiful Island beaches from everybody trying to walk on them," she said. "We don't want to set that kind of precedent. It's not right."
Environment and climate change
Shoring up critical infrastructure and launching a public inquiry into what went wrong during and after post-tropical storm Fiona was central to debate around climate change. The storm walloped the Island last fall, downing trees across the Island and leaving some Islanders without power for weeks.
Neill said P.E.I. should bury its power lines to prevent widespread power outages in the event of future catastrophic weather events.
"We certainly saw during Fiona that a lot of the trees were leaning on or bringing down completely our lines," she said. "By burying them we'd have a much more resilient system to be able to deal with any kind of climate issues that will come in the future."
New
Democratic Party Leader Michelle Neill said shoreline developments can
no longer be grandfathered in, and it's time to act to protect Island
beaches. (Brian McInnis/CP Photo)
King agreed, saying his government is already working on plans for the future.
"We need to come up with some plans and [Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy Minister Steven Myers] and some others in his department have been working on some long-term contingency planning around improving our electrical grid resilience but also some on-Island, green clean energy capacity as well," he said.
Bevan-Baker, however, berated the PCs for failing to launch a public inquiry after Fiona. Seniors in public housing were left without power, he said, and thousands of Islanders were forced to drive to Charlottetown only to wait for hours in line to access provincial disaster relief funds distributed by the Red Cross.
"This government did a dreadful job of looking after Islanders and unless we do a full review we will never know," he said. "When we have seniors in the dark and the cold that [government] are the ones who can call the shots and say 'This is a priority,' … you know what, I'm not going to be able to know that. None of us are going to be able to know that unless we have a public inquiry."
King defended his party's record of transparency after Fiona, saying a standing committee explored the role of third parties like Maritime Electric and the Red Cross in the aftermath of the storm.
"We need to learn from all of this so we have committed to doing a review, we will do that. We will learn from that and it's the reality of life we're in here right now," he said. "This will be the new reality, it seems, in terms of catastrophic events. We have to learn from the last one. We learned from Dorian, we'll learn from Fiona and try to make our province more resilient."
Neill said the Red Cross should never have been responsible for delivering the disaster relief funds government was best equip to provide.
Islanders head to the polls on April 3.
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Read a lot of her content, then misrepresenting the truth regarding the leader of the Green Party. Who out classed her due to his superior intellect and honesty.
I think the political interference in the design and assess to health care must stop.
They can meet with health professionals, however they do not have the specific knowledge and skill set to drive the system. Unless it is into the ground.
The NDP leader does not understand MDs have a professional responsibility to document the plan of client care, the outcome of the care, the follow-up to clinically support the client and communicate promptly to the extended health team.
The medical record is our responsibility to maintain as well.
The record can be dictated, and then retained in the client chart.
There must be a complete review of the process to ensure it is accurate, and efficient.
If PEI has not done this, to ensure the balance of the time MD's provide care and document that care was given, start this review!
P.E.I. Green leader apologizes to Speaker, but stands by use of the word 'farce'
Speaker of the P.E.I. Legislature Buck Watts says he stands by his decision to remove Bevan-Baker
Kerry Campbell · CBC News · Posted: Dec 21, 2017 8:00 PM AST
Green leader 'shocked' after Liberals shut down debate on changes to Elections Act
'To have it shut down like that was a little shocking'
Nicole Williams · CBC News · Posted: Dec 05, 2018 4:01 PM AST
Tell me, how right wing does all of that sound to you?
The Fenian raids were a series of incursions carried out by the Fenian Brotherhood, an Irish republican organization based in the United States, on military fortifications, customs posts and other targets in Canada (then part of British North America) in 1866, and again from 1870 to 1871. A number of separate incursions by the Fenian Brotherhood into Canada were undertaken to bring pressure on the British government to withdraw from Ireland, although none of these raids achieved their aims.
In Canada, the incursions divided its burgeoning Irish-Canadian population, many of whom were torn between loyalty to their new home and sympathy for the aims of the Fenians. Protestant Irish immigrants were generally loyal to the British and fought with the pro-Union Orange Order against the Fenians.
While authorities in the United States arrested the men and confiscated the arms of the Fenian Brotherhood, there was speculation that some in the U.S. government had ignored the preparations undertaken by the Fenians because of anger over British actions that were construed by some as assistance to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The Fenian raids were one of the factors that led to Canadian Confederation, as the provinces united to face the threat of the Fenian invasions.
Please, exercise your rights and go vote!!!
Those who don't vote have not earned ANY right to complain about the gov't.
Assimilation has devastated nearly 85% of Acadiens. Even MLA s. whose heritage is Acadien khow nothing of their roots. So no pride in Ancestors.
Government speaks of equitable treatment of BIPOC people. It has not even begun for French Speaking Acadiens.
Those who choose to be lazy and not vote forego the privilege of complaining about an election result they chose not to be involved in.
Period.
Over 21% of registered voters already cast ballots as advance polls close for 2nd day
Final advance polling day on P.E.I. is Friday
Of registered voters in the province, 8.89 per cent — or 9,373 Islanders — headed to the polls Monday, Elections P.E.I. said in a press release issued shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m.
Together with Saturday's advance polling turnout, that means over 21 per cent of registered voters on the Island have already cast their ballot in this election.
Elections P.E.I. said there was a power interruption in Kings County that affected polling locations in District 3 Montague-Kilmuir and District 4 Belfast-Murray River at 10:30 a.m.
The polling stations were switched to a battery backup for about an hour, and Elections P.E.I. said there were "little to no disruptions."
Here's the district-by-district breakdown for turnout Monday:
- 1: Souris-Elmira: 377 / 10.28%.
- 2: Georgetown-Pownal: 286 / 7.80%.
- 3: Montague-Kilmuir: 375 / 9.86%.
- 4: Belfast-Murray River: 200 / 5.32%.
- 5: Mermaid-Stratford: 361 / 9.43%.
- 6: Stratford-Keppoch: 435 / 11.57%.
- 7: Morell-Donagh: 288 / 7.57%.
- 8: Stanhope-Marshfield: 310 / 7.52%.
- 9: Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park: 315 / 7.66%.
- 10: Charlottetown-Winsloe: 466 / 11.00%.
- 11: Charlottetown-Belvedere: 402 / 9.94%.
- 12: Charlottetown-Victoria Park: 321 / 8.03%.
- 13: Charlottetown-Brighton: 368 / 9.44%.
- 14: Charlottetown-West Royalty: 405 / 9.89%.
- 15: Brackley-Hunter River: 251 / 6.58%.
- 16: Cornwall-Meadowbank: 520 / 11.51%.
- 17: New Haven Rocky Point: 440 / 10.37%.
- 18: Rustico-Emerald: 365 / 8.62%.
- 19: Borden-Kinkora: 197 / 4.91%.
- 20: Kensington-Malpeque: 514 / 12.56%.
- 21: Summerside-Wilmot: 422 / 9.88%.
- 22: Summerside-South Drive: 350 / 7.95%.
- 23: Tyne Valley-Sherbrooke: 265 / 6.80%.
- 24: Evangeline-Miscouche 196 / 6.32%.
- 25: O'Leary-Inverness: 263 / 8.07%.
- 26: Alberton-Bloomfield: 353 / 10.08%.
- 27: Tignish-Palmer Road: 328 / 9.82%.
Islanders will have a final opportunity to vote early when advance polls open Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. They can check their voting location on their voter information card or by going to the Elections P.E.I. website.
Election day is next Monday, April 3.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-leaders-debate-promo-1.6785571
How to watch the 2023 CBC P.E.I. leaders' debate
The debate moderated by CBC's Louise Martin airs tonight from 6:30 to 8 p.m. AT
CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin will moderate the debate, featuring Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker, Liberal Party Leader Sharon Cameron, NDP Leader Michelle Neill and PC Party Leader Dennis King.
The leaders will be asked to define their vision for the province on a variety of topics, and respond to questions submitted by voters.
The debate will be broadcast live from 6:30 to 8 p.m. AT on CBC TV and CBC Radio One.
You can catch a livestream of the debate on CBC Gem, CBC Listen, or the CBC P.E.I. Facebook page.
It will also be streamed live on the CBC P.E.I. website, where we'll have up-to-date coverage of the debate and a recap of the significant moments from the event.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
Island Party leader says accountability front and centre for new political party
‘That made us realize that we need to become involved’
Wayne Thibodeau · CBC News · Posted: Mar 27, 2023 6:00 AM ADT
seems to be Bias ?
kind of reminds of, employment where one can't get hired without experience ...
people that want a change, I imagine they care
Island Party leader says accountability front and centre for new political party
‘That made us realize that we need to become involved’
Accountability is front and centre for the new leader of the Island Party.
Ahava Kálnássy de Kálnás has only been at the reins of the upstart political party for just over two weeks.
Now, they are in the middle of a provincial election campaign.
Born in the former Czechoslovakia, Kálnássy de Kálnás moved to Canada when they were five years old. They moved to Prince Edward Island in 2019.
Kálnássy de Kálnás says a battle over plans to evict them from their Souris apartment got them involved in politics.
'Everything that I believe in'
"That made us realize that we need to become involved, we need to be able to direct our own futures, we need to be able to respect ourselves and say 'no' to people in positions of power that are trying to create a society in which there isn't justice for everyone," said Kálnássy de Kálnás.
The Island Party is running 11 candidates across P.E.I. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)
Ahava Kálnássy de Kálnás is their ancestral Jewish name. Their common legal name is Cecile Sly.
D.P. Murphy, which operates Tim Hortons, purchased the building they live in, and issued eviction notices to the tenants on Jan. 5.
According to documents filed by the company with the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, the company wanted to use the building to house temporary foreign workers.
Those evictions were overturned late last month.
Kálnássy de Kálnás said when they were asked to lead the Island Party it was "like coming home."
"Because the platform and the policies and the vision of the Island Party are everything that I believe in."
'They're looking for change'
That includes recall legislation, town halls and referendums on major issues, which the party says puts the power back in the hands of the people.
Island
Party candidates Lucy Robbins, left, and her husband, Gary Robbins, go
over the party's pamphlets they are handing out at the doors. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)
Husband and wife couple, Gary and Lucy Robbins, are running for the Island Party in eastern P.E.I.
The couple have been married for more than 30 years and are now campaigning together.
"People are just wonderful when you go to the door and talk to them about the party," said Lucy Robbins, who is a candidate in District 2, Georgetown-Pownal.
"They're looking for change."
Gary Robbins, a candidate in District 3, Montague-Kilmuir, said concerns about "forced amalgamation" and land use are what prompted the couple to run for public office.
"When the idea for the Island Party came up we pounced on that," he said.
'Trying to promote the party'
The Island Party is running 11 candidates across P.E.I.
Kálnássy de Kálnás is running in District 1, Souris-Elmira. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)
Kálnássy de Kálnás uses a wheelchair to get around after a slip-and-fall accident.
That, they said, is limiting their ability to campaign.
"I've been basically working through the internet, through the phone and trying to promote the party," they said.
"All members of the party and all candidates in the party have the same vision, we share the same values so it was just a group of people that had the same beliefs and were committed to the same things all just saying, 'We're going to do this,' and so we're doing it."
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