Federal election on P.E.I.: 3-way race in Egmont
Kerry Campbell | CBC News | Posted: October 5, 2015 2:44 PM | Last Updated: October 5, 2015
Gail Shea faces two strong challengers a she tries to hold onto Conservative beachhead in western P.E.I.
The riding of Egmont was considered one of the safest Liberal seats in the country in 2008, having been in Liberal hands since Pierre Trudeau was prime minister. The last Progressive Conservative to lay claim to the riding was David MacDonald in 1979.
But in 2008 Liberal Joe McGuire, who'd been the MP for 18 years, announced he wouldn't seek re-election. Former provincial cabinet minister Bobby Morrissey had won the nomination to run for the Liberals. But with just two months to go before the election was called he stepped down, leaving former premier Keith Milligan to take over.
Running for the Conservatives was another former provincial cabinet minister, Gail Shea. The contest went to a judicial recount. Shea squeaked by, winning by just 55 votes.
Shea was named minister of fisheries and oceans by Stephen Harper. When she ran for re-election in 2011 she increased her margin of victory nearly a hundred-fold, taking 55 per cent of the vote.
There's every indication Shea remains a popular candidate, but her party and its leader are not, at least not in P.E.I. Controversial changes to employment insurance are likely the biggest reason. A CRA poll conducted in August 2015 found 69 per cent of Islanders expressing dissatisfaction with the Harper government, and only 18 per cent said they wanted him to remain as prime minister.
'Stability going into the future'
With that political backdrop, Shea is trying to win her third term as MP, facing two strong candidates in a three-way race for the riding.
"Most people know what my record is, because they've followed what I have delivered over the past seven years," said Shea.
"They know that if they cast a Conservative vote that they're going to have that stability going into the future. They're going to have that experienced leadership, not just dealing with the economy but also dealing with issues of national security."
A controversial move introduced by Shea last year might help her out where she is most vulnerable.
In the fall of 2014 Shea announced P.E.I. would be split into two separate EI zones. As a result, claimants outside the Charlottetown area, including all of Shea's Egmont riding, have to work fewer hours to qualify for EI and receive more weeks of benefits. The variation is based on the higher unemployment rate in rural P.E.I.
'Let's make history again'
Under most circumstances, Egmont would become a contest between the Conservative and the Liberal candidate. But the return of Dr. Herb Dickieson to politics after a 15-year hiatus has made it a three-way race.
Dickieson remains the only New Democrat ever elected in P.E.I. history. In 1996 he came out on top of another three-way race to become the provincial MLA for West Point-Bloomfield. He ran again in 2000, receiving one fewer vote than in 1996 but the split didn't favour him a second time and he lost the election.
Dickieson is running under the slogan "Let's make history again." He says the Conservative changes to EI have created hardship for many families in the area. Reversing those changes is at the top of his list of priorities.
"I believe there's certain principles we should stick by," he said.
"Number one, we need to make sure people have a sustainable income when the chips are down, when they don't have a job."
Dickieson said one EI change by the Conservatives, that claws back 50 cents in benefits for every dollar claimants earn while working part-time, is a disincentive that keeps people from taking on extra work.
"People that are barely just getting by, they should be allowed to work extra hours to help enhance their EI," he said.
He also said an NDP government would prevent any future government from using an EI surplus to help balance their books, something past Liberal and Conservative governments have done.
'This is not a government that has been kind to Prince Edward Island'
Seven years after Bobby Morrissey gave up the Egmont nomination for the Liberals, he won it again, and is finally facing off against Shea.
Like Liberal incumbent Sean Casey in Charlottetown, Morrissey says ending Stephen Harper's run as prime minister is the most important issue before voters in Egmont.
"I fundamentally disagree with the direction the Harper government has taken this country," he says.
"The agenda of the Harper government, as it relates to Atlantic Canada, and P.E.I. in particular, this is not a government that has been kind to Prince Edward Island."
Morrissey refers to the EI changes as an "attack on the seasonally employed." He is also concerned P.E.I. seniors will suffer under changes to eligibility to Old Age Security.
In a move that may further blur the distinctions between Liberals and New Democrats as they compete to be the voice of change in this election, both parties have pledged to repeal these and other Harper changes to social programs.
'Pop rocks in the kitty litter'
Former CBC broadcaster Nils Ling is running for the Greens. He was a late entry to the race, his nomination coming more than half-way through the 11-week election period.
He said it's possible he could turn this three-way race into a four-way race. If not, he at least wants to inject some new ideas into the contest, and stir things up a bit.
"The Green Party has some ideas that sound revolutionary," he said.
"The idea of free tuition — that sounds revolutionary. You know, Medicare sounded revolutionary when Tommy Douglas brought it in. And it was. One of the things I want to do is be a voice for some of those new ideas.
"I also think it's good to have a little disruption. I want to put some pop rocks in the kitty litter and see what happens."