Choosing P.E.I. referendum commissioner must be 'open and transparent' says Aylward

P.E.I. Progressive Conservative Leader James Aylward says he wants to see an open and transparent process for choosing the referendum commissioner. 

The commissioner will oversee the vote on whether our electoral system may change in tandem with P.E.I.'s next provincial election — for one thing, they'll make sure lobby groups abide by the rules. So that person will have to be in place well before the next election, currently slated for fall 2019 — however, that could change. 

Under new legislation passed just last week, an all-party legislative management committee will recommend a person for the position, then a two-thirds majority of the province's MLA's would have to approve. 

As of now, those meetings are held behind closed doors, but Aylward is calling for them to be open to the public. 

'Out in the open'

"It's imperative when we're talking about something as fundamentally important as democracy here on P.E.I. and how we elect a government, the process needs to be as open and transparent as possible," Aylward said. 

"We don't have any room here for things to be done behind closed doors — everything needs to be out in the open."  

He also wants the position to be publicly advertised through Engage PEI.  

"Right now there hasn't even been a call go out to the general public for interested Islanders to put their name forward. Until that happens, and we have a slate of interested individuals that we can look at, interview and go through that process, it's pretty hard to say when that person would be selected," Aylward said. 

Speaker Buck Watts chairs the legislative management committee and said asking the committee to open the meetings to the public will be at the top of the agenda of its next meeting, which could happen in the coming weeks. It's important all party leaders be present, Watts said. 

If there is unanimous agreement, Watts said, then the meetings can be open.

More P.E.I. news