The year ahead is a 'challenge on the horizon,' says P.E.I. premier
A 'stabilizing force' is needed to deal with issues looming in 2025, Dennis King says
Reflecting on the past year, Premier Dennis King said 2024 was a strong year for Prince Edward Island in general.
Even so, "there's no shortage of challenges," King told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin on Dec. 19. "There never is."
From health care to housing to the threat of U.S.-imposed export tariffs, P.E.I. faced a number of difficult issues this year.
Looking ahead to 2025, there is a "challenge on the horizon," King said. "As the premier of P.E.I. right now, I want to make sure we're trying to do everything we can to have a stabilized force that can deal with some of these issues that need dealing with."
This year's accomplishments
One issue on which King said he feels his government made strong headway this year was health care.
"We've had maybe one of the best years probably in a generation when it comes to the improvement of health-care delivery," he said.
"Some of the seeds we've planted are starting to come to fruition."
King said the new physician services agreement, making P.E.I. the first province in Canada to recognize family medicine as a specialty, is "the envy of other jurisdictions in the country."
The agreement also included a pay raise that the province estimated would place Island physicians among the top three highest-paid in the country.
The province saw the addition of additional health-care professionals too, King said.
"We have 39 new doctors hired — one of the best years ever," he said.
That number compares to 24 hires in all of 2023.
King added that there are also more registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and resident care workers on Island payrolls.
While "many, many things are positive in that regard," he said, "it's never enough, it's never fast enough and more work needs to be done."
The tariff threat
As premier, King said he has concerns across the board on matters that impact each and every citizen.
But top of mind is Donald Trump's threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports to the United States, which could "have a catastrophic event on the lives of Islanders," he said.
Last year, almost 80 per cent of international exports from P.E.I. were shipped to the U.S., representing $1.8 billion in trade. The proposed tariffs on those exports could devastate some of the Island's major industries, some say.
"I don't know if people fully realize the value of trade that we have with the United States," King said. "It's about 25 per cent of our GDP."
A disruption to that "would significantly impact our ability to invest in health care, housing, social assistance — all of the government programs that Islanders need us to be investing in at a greater level than we are right now," he said.
The province has established a special cabinet committee on U.S. relations, and intends to send a Team P.E.I. delegation to the United States in early 2025.
King said the goal with this approach is to make sure "those on the southern side of our border fully understand and comprehend the value of this long-standing relationship we have, the value we have on one another, how important our products are to their everyday lives, and how important that 25 per cent tariff would be in terms of inflating the cost directly to U.S. consumers."
King said P.E.I. is also part of the Team Canada approach to the same problem, but he wants to "utilize the strengths we have built" through businesses and government, particularly when it comes to the northeastern U.S.
It's about "trying to do everything we can as Prince Edward Island under the banner of Team Canada. Having that [trade] relationship unaffected and for it to continue the way it is is very, very critical to life here in Prince Edward Island," he said.
Looking ahead to 2025
On the federal level, King said he won't be joining the chorus of voices calling on the prime minister to step down.
"The decision on the future of the prime minister is up to the prime minister," he said.
"I would like to see us as a country have a stabilized government in terms of our ability to be able to deliver programs, but also to be able to negotiate successfully with the United States on issues."
He said he hopes to use his voice as one of Canada's 13 provincial and territorial leaders to "make sure we're focused on stability, to make sure we're looking beyond the personalities of politics."
He added: "The reality is… our issues are bigger than one person and our issues don't magically disappear because one person leaves or comes.
"We really need a focused approach, a stabilized approach to deal with a lot of these issues which are going to impact Canadians in the future.
"I'd certainly like to see stability and I think many Islanders would agree with that."
Our other 2024 year-end interviews:
With files from CBC News: Compass