Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Battle for Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island

A Liberal bastion, Prince Edward Island is home to 4 seats and proudly trumpets itself as "the Birthplace of Confederation". Currently home to about 136,000 people, P.E.I.'s economy is all about 3 things: Agriculture (think potatoes), tourism (the leaves are just starting to turn), and fishery (which I can't do worth a darn - so much for my political aspirations in P.E.I.). The Island had a "red tory" PC government from 1996 to 2007, when the Liberals of Robert Ghiz took power in dominant fashion (23 seats to the Tories' 4). Federally, P.E.I. hasn't elected a non-Liberal M.P. since 1984 - it's considered more of a lock than Alberta, and that's saying something. Barring a miracle, expect 4 Liberal MP's when they finish counting the votes in the wee morning hours of October 15th.

Riding to Watch: Charlottetown. It elected a Tory as recently as 1984, and was the closest race on the Island in 2006 - both the Liberal incumbent and the Tory challenger are back for another go 'round. IF (big, big IF) there's a change, it'll be here.

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