P.E.I. Opposition leader says abstaining on capital budget was a 'political mistake'

Looking back at the end-of-session vote on the capital budget earlier this month, P.E.I. Opposition leader Peter Bevan-Baker says his decision to abstain from voting was "a strategic and political mistake."

Bevan-Baker revealed his misgivings about the budget vote during a year-end interview on CBC News: Compass with guest host Steve Bruce, in which he also spoke about his party's priorities for 2021. 

"I now understand that people want a yes or a no," said Bevan-Baker about his decision to abstain from the budget vote, which passed 19 votes to three, with four Green MLAs abstaining. 

"They don't want something in the middle, even though I think that was a more accurate reflection of how I felt." 

There is no vaccine, for example, for crushing poverty, which is ongoing. There is no vaccine for mental distress and mental illness.— Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker 

Bevan-Baker said his vote would lean toward yes, despite his concerns about the budget. 

"I have yet to hear a really strong, solid, clear vision from this government as to where they want our province to go post-COVID," Bevan-Baker said.

In spite of what he feels is a lack of vision, Bevan-Baker was quick to commend his colleague, Premier Dennis King, on how he has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"We are lucky enough to live in a province that is led by a gentleman who is forward-thinking, who is open-minded, who is generous of spirit and willing to work with other parties," he said.

"And we know that there are many other jurisdictions in Canada and around the world where that is not the case."

Continue work on 'underlying issues' 

While crediting King for his work on the pandemic, Bevan-Baker also pointed out there are longer-standing issues that he said have not been dealt with. 

That's a rare thing in politics, to have people of different stripes genuinely and authentically wanting to work hard together to improve the well-being of their citizens rather than put their party first.— Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker 

"There is no vaccine, for example, for crushing poverty, which is ongoing. There is no vaccine for mental distress and mental illness. And no amount of closing our borders is going to resolve the housing crisis or the environmental decline that we've seen here on the Island," he said. 

"So there are some underlying issues that I think we cannot forget about amidst all of the noise created by the pandemic." 

It's these issues, said Bevan-Baker, that the Green Party would like to focus on in 2021.

"We'll continue to push on the major issues that we did in the last sitting, those being the housing crisis, the mental health crisis that we're facing, rebuilding our economy in a way that will guarantee that we have sustainable prosperity," he said. 

Feeling optimistic about the future 

Bevan-Baker said he looks forward to continuing to work with all of P.E.I.'s MLAs in 2021, adding that the sense of "camaraderie and friendship" they have has served Islanders well. 

"That's a rare thing in politics, to have people of different stripes genuinely and authentically wanting to work hard together to improve the well-being of their citizens rather than put their party first," he said. 

"I'm optimistic about the future because of the character and the quality of the people who are sitting in that legislature."

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