Wade MacLauchlan is only concerned about 2 polls

When P.E.I. Liberal Party Leader Wade MacLauchlan called the provincial election, the polls showed his personal popularity was bouncing around the low to mid 20s, but he says that doesn't worry him.

"I've got two polls that I look at. One of them coming up within less than two weeks, which is an election, and that's going to be the truest poll of all," said MacLauchlan.

"The second is next door I get to."

In addition to leading the charge, like all the leaders in this campaign MacLauchlan has been spending a lot of time in his own district knocking on doors.

"I can tell you it's really one of the sweetest things about being in public life, or in particular, being out on the campaign trail. I go to every door. I don't care if they've got a sign up that says they're supporting the opposition. I go in and find out what's on their mind."

Better nature

MacLauchlan is hardly a veteran of the campaign trail. This will be his second election.

He campaigned in 2015 on the theme of appealing to Islanders' better nature.

He had come into the leadership just two months before the May 2015 election. Government accountability had been a central part of the campaign, and speaking to CBC News just after his victory was declared, he said he would do things differently.

He said consulting with Islanders has been part of that.

"We have had a very actively-engaged public and I appreciate it. I think it's so important in terms of islanders having their say and having their influence," he said.

Since 2015 there was a lengthy consultation regarding the rezoning of schools, and more around municipal amalgamation and the Water Act.

'It's not what my plans … are'

MacLauchlan came under fire over the Water Act at a leaders' forum on the environment earlier this week — the act was passed in the legislature in 2017 but is still not in effect — with other leaders wanting to know the Liberal stance on high-capacity wells and holding ponds for irrigation.

There is good reason that hasn't been released, he said. Staff are still working on the regulations for wells and municipal wastewater, and following that will be another public consultation on withdrawing groundwater for irrigation.

"It's not what my plans or your plans are, it's what the plans will be for the people of Prince Edward Island," he said.

"Where we've seen the biggest gains, whether it's in the student well-being teams, whether it's in social programs, whether it's in the growth in the economy. Whether it's in health. We've seen it come from people working together across silos, across disciplines."

The possibility of a minority

The latest polls have suggested an unpredictable outcome for the April 23 election.

The Green Party had a clear lead, but the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals were in easy striking distance. Many are expecting a minority government.

If it comes to that, said MacLauchlan, the Liberal Party is ready to make it work. The last session of the legislature in the fall shows that, he said.

"We had 27 pieces of legislation, three of which came from the Opposition," said MacLauchlan.

"Whatever the count is, there are going to be 27 members of the legislature on the 24th of April whose job it will be, whether it's a majority or minority or whatever happens, whose job it will be to do the business of the people as a fully functioning legislature."

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