SUMMERSIDE — Two candidates are seeking to become the Progressive Conservative Party of P.E.I. candidate for District 23.
Paul Walsh of Summerside is a former business owner in Summerside and Bloomfield. Hilton MacLennan is a Port Hill dairy farmer and former milk truck driver.
Both men said recently that they welcome a nomination contest.
“I think every district should have a race for their nominations. It provides more people with the opportunity to have input, it provides excitement, involvement in the party, it raises our profile and it adds some credibility to it, too,” said Walsh.
“It makes us work harder,” added MacLennan. “It gets us involved, gets us out there meeting people which gives us more of an understanding … what people’s concerns are, what they’re talking about.”
No nomination meeting date has been announced yet for District 23.
Because P.E.I.’s electoral map has been changed in advance of the next provincial election, local district associations have to hold founding meetings.
District 23 is currently held by Liberal MLA Paula Biggar. It is also currently designated as Tyne Valley-Linkletter, but that will be changing to Tyne Valley-Sherbrooke for the next election.
According to P.E.I.’s fixed election date, the next provincial election will be October 2019, but rumours of an earlier election call have spurred the parties into early action.
