Peter Bevan-Baker has announced his intention to seek the leadership of the Green Party of Prince Edward Island.
A dentist by profession, Bevan-Baker is also a musician and environmentalist who has been associated with the Green Party for over 20 years, running as a candidate both federally and provincially. His first election in 1993 resulted in him receiving one of the highest vote counts of any Green Party candidate in the country.
“I want to challenge Islanders to reassess their voting behaviour," Bevan-Baker said in the news release announcing his bid. "For too long the Liberals and Conservatives have dominated the political scene in Prince Edward Island, with a spectacular record of failure on social, environmental and fiscal issues."
P.E.I.'s Green Party founder, Sharon Labchuk, announced she was stepping down in July.
Labchuk established the Green Party of P.E.I. in 2005. Under her leadership the party placed third, behind the Progressive Conservatives, in both the 2007 and 2011 elections, and increased the party’s support last year’s election despite a drop in voter turnout.
A leadership convention will be held later this year and Darcie Lanthier has been appointed interim leader.
Bevan-Baker said he is not a politician who "sugar-coats" things.
"I think the public is acutely aware that something is not quite right on Prince Edward Island. Our province needs leadership that is principled and visionary. I am dismayed by the Ghiz government as they appear to lurch from one crisis to the next, wilfully ignoring the needs and preferences of Islanders. There appears to be no end to their arrogance and no beginning to their vision.”
He said the Green Party can "place Prince Edward Island at the forefront of the profound economic and social changes sweeping the globe. I especially want to see the farming community on P.E.I. prosper while also protecting the environment."
sad but true it is