5 things to take away from the spring sitting of the P.E.I. legislature

The spring sitting of the P.E.I. legislature has come to an end — and there were a lot of changes this time around. 

It was the first session for Premier Dennis King's new majority government, after he disregarded the province's fixed election date of Oct. 2, 2023, and triggered an early election call leading up to voting day on April 3. 

When it comes to the biggest issues discussed in the house, access to health care and affordable housing remained at the top of the agenda for both opposition parties.  

Here are five things to take away from the spring sitting. 

1. Larger majority government 

This sitting featured a much larger Progressive Conservative majority government, with 22 PC MLAs having been elected. This means many new faces in the legislature and many new government ministers taking on portfolios. 

Some new ministers became a lot more familiar by the end of the sitting. With concerns about health care and housing dominating question period, Health Minister Mark McLane and Housing Minister Rob Lantz faced daily questions not just from the opposition but also from PC backbenchers. 

While both opposition parties voted against the government's record-setting $3 billion operating budget, it still passed thanks to that beefed-up majority. Even though six PC MLAs were away, including the premier, the governing party still had more than enough votes in the chamber to carry the day.

2. Biggest budget ever 

Annual spending in the province, including interest payments and amortization, is projected to exceed $3 billion for the first time.

That includes big spending on P.E.I. health care, which is projected to pass $1 billion. 

The primary investment in health is dedicated to the planned UPEI Medical School, with $21.9 million set aside in this fiscal year. The province has also committed to creating 100 positions for new medical homes, at a cost of $8.9 million.

Late Wednesday, after the budget vote, Deputy Premier Bloyce Thompson said he's proud of the fiscal plan.

"It's an aggressive budget with a record amount of spending," he said. "Of course we have to prove ourselves here. I think it's a budget that's good for all Islanders."

Both opposition party leaders said they couldn't support the budget because they had questions about spending in multiple departments that they felt cabinet ministers didn't answer.

"They asked us to approve millions of dollars in the budget with no plans," said interim Liberal Leader Hal Perry, pointing to $1.1 million in the budget for a rent-to-own housing program and $5.2 million for a caregiver tax credit.

3. Midnight sittings 

This sitting also saw the return of night sittings — sort of. 

The PC government tabled a motion in the final days of the sitting to force the legislature to sit until midnight for three straight nights. June 14 to 16. This was an attempt to make inroads on wrapping up budget debate. 

That drew immediate criticism from both opposition parties. Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker said there was no need to rush the budget through and said the quality of debate suffered as a result. 

"It was very clear that they just wanted to get out of here, and every day we were not in that house, we couldn't bring forward questions during question period," Bevan-Baker said. 

Even with an extra 24 hours of debate time for that specific purpose, it took two more sitting days for budget debate to finally conclude this week.

4. Bigger backbench 

The larger-majority PC government meant more backbenchers. Many of them joined opposition MLAs in posing tough questions to cabinet ministers throughout the session. 

There were nine backbenchers this sitting, a mixture of brand-new MLAs as well as former cabinet ministers. 

Most of them asked questions about how the government plans to uphold certain campaign promises, like increasing the number of paramedics working on P.E.I. and getting more nurse practitioners working in Island hospitals. 

5. Legislation passed 

When it comes to the number of bills passed during the spring sitting, the list is fairly slim compared to previous ones. 

The King government passed just eight pieces of legislation, including its budget bill and another routine spending bill. Another seven bills remain on the order paper because the session is still in progress; they could still be passed during the fall sitting of this session.

Among the government bills that passed this spring was a change to the Climate Leadership Act to allow the federal carbon backstop program to kick in July 1.

There was also a victory for the Green Party when MLAs approved its bill to give the province's ombudsperson jurisdiction to investigate post-secondary institutions in the province.