2023 promise tracker: Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island

You're going to hear a lot of promises during this Prince Edward Island election campaign. Here's a round-up of the key announcements from the Liberals, led by Sharon Cameron. 

This page will be updated regularly until the election on April 3, so make sure to check back for the latest.

The full Liberal Party platform was released March 22.

The party's platform cost is $57.3 million for 2023-2024, growing to $96 million the next year and $136.6 the year after.

Health care and doctor shortages

• Establish a provincial Department of Mental Health and Addictions, separate from the Department of Health.
• Expand the number of mental health walk-in clinics and mobile mental health, including 24-7 coverage.
• Increase the number of psychiatrists.
• Establish the HomeFirst program, where family caregivers can be compensated up to $1,500 per month to care for an immediate relative in their own homes.
• Expand online access to mental health and addictions services.
• Expand access to mental health services through the use of psychologists as part of the P.E.I. Health system on a fee-for-service basis.
• Introduce a 10-year plan on housing for Islanders living with mental illness without stable housing.
• Double scholarships, financial incentives and return-in-service grants for Islanders studying medicine in other provinces.
• Establish return-in-service agreements for Island students at Canadian universities where the P.E.I. government has purchased seats, and that they would double the number of medical residency seats — including adding four new seats for students outside of Canada.
• Have the premier assume ministerial responsibility for health care for a two-year period. 
• Introduce a new Patients' Rights Act that gives Islanders legal rights when it comes to timely access to health-care services.
• Establish a Team P.E.I. Nursing Scholarship, covering tuition for students training on P.E.I. who go on to work in the P.E.I. health-care system.
• Develop a 10-year nursing workforce strategy in consultation with RN and LPN nursing organizations.
• Expand virtual healthcare/telemedicine to divert Islanders from needing to use ERs for non-urgent care needs.
• Expand access to primary care in non-urgent settings to divert patients from ERs.
• Allow pharmacists to deliver the P.E.I. Smoking and Vaping Cessation Program, contraception management services on a fee-for-service basis, and play a greater role in chronic disease management, including blood pressure, cholesterol diagnosis/treatment and diabetes management.
• Provide public coverage for women's prescription contraceptives.
• Allow pharmacists to deliver contraception management services as a publicly funded program.

Housing

• Expand investment in new, affordable seniors housing that provide seniors with assisted living options.
• Enhance the emergency shelter system to provide 24/7 access rather than 12-hour nighttime access.
• Support first-time homebuyers with an income of $95,000 or less with an interest-reducing subsidy on the first $200,000 of their mortgage of up to $4,000 per year for a period of five years.
• Make multi-unit residential properties qualifying businesses for immigrants to invest in for the purpose of qualifying for citizenship under provincial immigration programs.
• Expand access to low-cost financing that provides $150 million over three years in new incentives to non-profits, co-ops, and developers to build new affordable housing on P.E.I.
• Provide financial and/or human resources support to municipalities to expedite building permit approvals and zoning changes in order to help speed up the construction process.
• Re-institute the cabinet committee on housing to provide for leadership and accountability for housing projects and initiatives.

Economy, workers, inflation, cost of living

• Modernize the apprenticeship system to make it more affordable and convenient for both students and employers.
• Enhance exposure to trades and career-related training in high schools in order to let students better understand the career opportunities that trades provide.
• Establish a COVID debt-relief program to support tourism operators with heavy debt following the pandemic, through low-interest funding through Finance P.E.I.

Environment, climate change

• Implement a farm renewable-energy program.
• Expand the buffer zone program and double payments to farmers to continue to take environmentally sensitive land out of production.
• Accelerate on-farm climate adaptation and mitigation initiatives that leverage federal and provincial funding and increase adoption of proven practices.
• Establish a permanent and independent land use commission with Indigenous and geographic representation that reports to the legislature.
• Encourage the development of community-owned wind farms with the goal of achieving wind generation for 50 per cent of Islanders' electricity needs through low-interest financing.
• Ensure that the provincial capital budget allocates a minimum of 30 per cent of its total funding to mitigation and adaptation activities.

Education, childcare

• Fully implement federal funding program for early learning and childcare, including reduction of parent fees to $10 per day and enhanced wages for early childhood educators.
• Increase the number of spaces in existing early learning and childcare facilities as well as the construction of new facilities in rural areas.
• Create a funding program for school-age centres to support the requirements of parents requiring extended hours of coverage for their children.

Social programs

• Increase how much income a recipient can earn while still remaining eligible for social assistance programs.
• Develop a seasonal-worker benefits program to serve as a recruitment incentive for Islanders working in seasonal sectors to expand their time in the labour market.

Infrastructure and communities

• Increase investments in public transit.

Governance, leadership

No announcements to date.