As a federal election looms, P.E.I. candidates say they're already campaigning
Conservatives, Liberals, NDP each have a full slate of candidates on P.E.I.
With a federal election widely expected to be called at some point this week, candidates on Prince Edward Island are busy getting ready.
Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada's prime minister less than a week ago, but he's an unelected leader without a seat in the House of Commons.
Since his victory in the Liberal leadership race to replace Justin Trudeau, many senior elected officials have said Canadians need a government with a strong mandate to lead the country and stare down the economic threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Speculation is building that Carney will trigger an election campaign within days.
On the Island, James Aylward spent Tuesday delivering campaign yard signs to supporters in anticipation of the call coming soon.
The former MLA and provincial cabinet minister won the Conservative Party of Canada's nomination for the eastern P.E.I. riding of Cardigan last July.
"I think we're very ready. We've been knocking on doors now for quite some time. I've certainly talked to a lot of individuals all across Cardigan," he said.
Up until this month, Aylward thought he would be going up against the Liberal incumbent, Lawrence MacAulay, but then the longtime federal cabinet minister announced he won't seek re-election after 11 straight wins in the riding.
Instead, the Liberal nominee will be Kent MacDonald, a seventh-generation dairy farmer from Little Pond who announced on Tuesday that he had been acclaimed to represent the party.
The field in Cardigan so far also includes the NDP candidate, Lynn Thiele, and the People's Party of Canada's Lauchlan Taylor.
With MacAulay now out of the race, Aylward said his campaign strategy won't change.
"I was elected [provincially] three times here in Stratford and… my mantra, how I present myself, has always been the same," he said. "You need to get to the doors, you need to talk to people — but more importantly you need to listen."
'We've been ready for a while'
In the riding of Charlottetown, Sean Casey and his team were busy putting the final touches on his campaign headquarters Tuesday.
This will be the Liberal MP's fifth federal election campaign, and Casey said he's ready to go.
"Absolutely, we've been ready for a while," he said. "I'm out on doors between elections anyway, but my door-to-door has intensified in the last several weeks."
Also battling for votes in the Charlottetown riding will be another former provincial cabinet minister for the Conservatives, Natalie Jameson; the NDP's Joe Byrne; and People's Party of Canada candidate Bob Lucas.
Casey said his party has been bolstered by a dramatic turnaround in some national polls that now show the Conservatives and Liberals neck-and-neck, after months of double-digit leads for Pierre Poilievre's party.
"There is absolutely a huge jump in our step, there's wind at our back," Casey said. "What I'm getting [at] the doors in the last several weeks is a reception that's actually more favourable than it was in the last election."
The Conservatives, Liberals and NDP now each have a full slate of candidates across the Island.
The NDP candidate for western P.E.I.'s Egmont riding, Carol Rybinski, clinched the nomination more than a year ago.
She'll be up against Liberal incumbent Bobby Morrissey and the Conservatives' Logan McLellan.
"I feel really good about being prepared," Rybinski said.
"I have my official agent, I have all my signatures, I have a fantastic sign crew ready for me to get out there and stick signs in the ground. I have buddies who are going to be canvassing with me; we've already started."
Officials with the Green Party said in an email to CBC News that they have candidates set to go in three of the four P.E.I. ridings, and they'll announce the names either later this week or early next week.
So far, the central riding of Malpeque will be a contest among Liberal incumbent Heath MacDonald, Conservative candidate Jamie Fox — who's also a former P.E.I. cabinet minister — and the NDP's Cassie MacKay.
As of Tuesday, no political party has nominated candidates in all 343 ridings across the country. At this point, the Liberals have the fewest nominated candidates.
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With files from Wayne Thibodeau