P.E.I. sends all 4 Liberal incumbents back to Ottawa

All Liberal incumbents in P.E.I. won their seats and are heading back to Ottawa as part of the federal government after the 2019 federal election Monday night.

Bobby Morrissey, Lawrence MacAulay, Wayne Easter and Sean Casey all won their respective ridings and will be part of Justin Trudeau's minority government.

MacAulay will represent the people of Cardigan in the nation's capital once again. MacAulay won his 10th election Monday night after being first elected 31 years ago and is the Island's longest serving MP.

MacAulay has been on the opposite side of a Conservative minority government and was part of a minority government with the Liberals, a position he finds himself in once again.

"You can get things done," he said.

MacAulay said the best way to ease political divisions is good government.

"It would be great not to stress the division. It would be great to stress again our attempt to work together," he said.

MacAulay wants to continue the path the Liberals are on.

"The extension of UPEI and the new boat [ferry], of course, is big issues out this way and we have to make sure that takes place," MacAulay said.

Closest race

The closest race of the night turned out to be Egmont. Morrissey won with about 900 votes over 26-year-old Conservative candidate Logan McLellan.

After just a single term, Morrissey saw his share of the vote in Egmont drop compared to the 2015 election going from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.

Morrissey said he isn't concerned about the per cent of the vote he received.

"The voter always gets it right," he said.

Morrissey said his win was in the ballpark of where he thought it would be.

"Here on Prince Edward Island people were comfortable with the direction and record of the government," he said.

"I am happy we are back with a strong minority."

Returning four Liberals to Ottawa makes it easier to put forth concerns and have them addressed, he said.

"Electing four MPs and a smaller government mandate, it is easier for our voice to be heard collectively for Prince Edward Island."

Casey was able to secure his third term winning by a margin of 4,000 votes over the second-place Green candidate Darcie Lanthier.

"I'm honoured and humbled to have received the mandate and result that I have," he said.

'This is all new to me'

The voting numbers were consistent with internal polling and with the momentum around climate change, Casey said. He wasn't surprised by a strong showing from the Greens.

It will be a new world when Casey returns to Parliament — and it will be a learning curve, he said.

"I have never served in a minority government before," Casey said

"This is all new to me."

Casey said he has two top priorities heading back to the nation's capital.

"The priority for this riding has to be the acceleration of affordable housing. That is the immediate issue facing the electorate, no question," he said.

The other major priority for Casey is the reunification of P.E.I.'s EI zones.

In Malpeque Liberal veteran Easter was re-elected for a ninth term. Easter won the riding by over 2,000 votes.

Easter, like MacAulay, has been part of a minority government in the past and said the biggest issue is making committees work.

"The real work gets done at committees, so it will depend on the attitude and players at committee to see what gets done," he said.

Easter said the country is essentially divided by region politically, but he is optimistic about the Liberal minority government.

"Given the breakdown with the Bloc, the NDP, three Greens, Liberals and Conservatives we can make this Parliament work if there is the politically will to make it work," Easter said.

"We are going to make a great effort to work with everyone across the country to make the country better for everyone, it is going to be tough."

Dirty election

Easter said this, his ninth campaign, was the "dirtiest" election he has been part of, with amplified political divisions and many lies spoken.

"It was terrible in that way," he said.

Easter said the issues he heard at the doors are the issues that needs to be dealt with.

"Health care is a huge issue, some of the conditions seniors live in is another, the environment is the underlying issue overall," he said.

Preparing young people a "new economy" is also important, Easter said.

"Artificial intelligence and robotics is big, that came up a lot with young people," he said.

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