PC leadership prospects use annual gathering to gauge support

Those considering a run to become the next leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island shook hands and collected signatures as members gathered in Charlottetown for the party's annual general meeting on the weekend.

The party has set Feb. 9 as the date for its next leadership convention, after MLA James Aylward announced in September he would be stepping down.

Addressing about 60 party members on Saturday, Aylward said "it wasn't an easy decision to make" to step down as Tory leader, "but ultimately I knew that the things we care about as Progressive Conservatives are more important than any individual."

The party has slipped to third place in recent polls, behind the Liberals and the Green Party.

But Pat Binns, the last PC premier of P.E.I., has helped the party recruit leadership candidates. He said the PC caucus of eight MLAs — the largest opposition in the P.E.I. legislature since the 1990s — puts the party in a position to possibly win the next election.

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"They've got a good base with some strong members and I think that makes all the difference," said Binns, who served three terms as premier before his government was defeated by the Robert Ghiz Liberals in 2007.

While no one is officially in the running for the leadership, four people have stated their intention to do so, and all of them were at the AGM talking to members. Some gathered signatures to support their nominations.

Here's how each responded when asked what the party needs to do to increase support among Island voters:

Dennis King

"We have to start to tell Islanders what the party stands for," said Dennis King, a communications director under Binns.

"I think Islanders… probably have a pretty good idea of what the PC Party is against. And now I think it's time to stand up and talk about what they're for, and to promote some ideas, and to promote a new style of government that I think Islanders are really starving for."

Sarah Stewart-Clark

"We need to engage with Islanders and get more Islanders involved with our party," said leadership hopeful Sarah Stewart-Clark, the party's candidate to run in the district of Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park.

"And that's been part of the process that I've really enjoyed since I became a nominated candidate in July — the number of people that I've brought into the party who have never before considered politics. I think that we are at a point in time when we need all Islanders to engage with our political system."

Allan Dale

"We need to get out and start talking about how we're going to truly resonate, how we're going to build that trust in Islanders," said Allan Dale, a retired naval officer who now works at UPEI.

"I think this party's already got a great foundation, there's some solid people here. We need to prove to Islanders that we are there for them, we are there to serve them before ourselves.

Kevin Arsenault

Kevin Arsenault said the party needs to address issues of financial inequality which he said are being exacerbated under the current MacLauchlan government.

"I mean it's great to talk about GDP being a little higher or whatever," he said, but he noted an announced six per cent increase in shelter rates for social assistance clients doesn't match the 14 per cent in allowable rent increases approved by the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission since 2013.

"I hope Islanders aren't too fooled by modest, pre-election goodies they're probably going to see coming from the provincial government when we've seen such devastating policy decisions over the last few years."

$7,500 fee

Each leadership candidate must pay a fee of $7,500 to the party. That's reduced from the $10,000 fee required in the last leadership race.

Leadership candidates must also secure signatures from 100 party members in good standing, including a minimum of 30 from each of P.E.I.'s three counties. Members aren't allowed to endorse more than one candidate.

The party also said it has strengthened its vetting process since the last leadership contest to examine each candidate's legal, financial and personal history before authorizing them to run for the leadership.

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