CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - When it comes to the issues most important to voters of District 11 Charlottetown-Parkdale, it really is a mixed bag.
Monday’s byelection has shone a political spotlight on the urban riding, with P.E.I.’s four registered parties duking it out to garner the seat left open by former cabinet minister Doug Currie’s sudden resignation last month.
Candidates have been going door-to-door, mailing campaign materials, visiting coffee shops and hosting events – all in the hopes of wooing the 3,300 registered voters in the district and convincing them to choose a “voice in government,” to “send Wade a message” or to “vote for real change”.
But if you ask voters in the riding what they make of finding themselves suddenly so valuable to the upper echelons of the political machinery in P.E.I., many of them will offer a humble chuckle.
Simply put –– they are looking for someone they can trust to represent them. And often, they say, that comes down to a personal relationship with the candidate.
“The party is part of it, but I know the person that I’m voting for and I know his parents,” said Sharon Fortier.
“It’s a person I know, so I feel comfortable with that.”
The Guardian went door-to-door in some of the neighborhoods of District 11 to gather input from voters on issues important to them and heard a variety of views.
A number of people echoed Fortier’s sentiment, saying they planned to vote for someone they knew personally.
“For me, it’s the person who’s running. I don’t want someone who is just going to toe the party line. We want somebody who will look after the issues that we’re interested in,” one man said.
A number of others said they were undecided, still waiting to hear more specifics from the candidates about where they stood on core government issues like education and health care.
Max Knetchel said his key voting issue revolved around arts and culture and wanted to hear how the different candidates planned to support this.
“I’d like to see some more support for Island artists,” he said.
“Also, just in general – space and how space is being used, in terms of housing and in in terms of the environment,” he added, noting a concern over lawn pesticides.
Steve Love said he, too, was undecided, but that the candidate with the best vision for the district would win him over.
“I’m voting based on what would be best for the community because I want the community to be strong.”
For political watchers who like to make predictions, it has been a tough race to call.
The district itself has a history of voting for both the Liberal and Conservative parties. The Liberals have held the seat since 2007, when Currie was first elected to the legislature. Before that, it was a Progressive Conservative seat, held by Chester Gillan from 1996 to 2007. Previous to that, the entire legislative assembly had two levels of membership – councillors and assemblymen – and the voters in this riding generally sent a candidate each from the Liberal and PC parties to the dual representative legislature.
But this byelection is seeing a new dynamic for the area with a four-way race. The NDP and the Green parties are fighting hard with high-profile candidates to gain ground against the two main political parties.
And it appears they may be making inroads.
Ellen Mullally is a vocal supporter of the Green party who says she is voting Green in this byelection because the candidate is someone she identifies with and is championing causes and issues she personally cares about.
One of those issues is electoral reform.
Seventy-five per cent voters in District 11 who cast ballots in the plebiscite last year supported changing to mixed-member proportional representation.
Mullally says she remains unhappy about government’s dismissal of the results based on low voter turnout.
“I just felt extremely disappointed with the MacLauchlan government that they did not acknowledge that was legitimate. They say there was not enough people turn out, but I don’t know. They don’t say that for other elections if they have a low voter turnout,” she said.
Mullally also cited a concern over how cosmetic pesticides have been handled by both the city and the province and is hoping her preferred candidate can make inroads in banning cosmetic pesticides.
But many of the voters who spoke with The Guardian said they felt it almost didn’t matter who they voted for. They expressed feelings of having become disheartened by the partisanship and bickering they witness in both the provincial legislature and the House of Commons in Ottawa.
“It doesn’t really make that much difference if you go between Liberal and Conservative,” a retired teacher told The Guardian.
Her husband agreed.
“We just find through the years, whether it’s Liberal or Conservative, it doesn’t really matter. The policies end up being the same, whether it’s education or health care. So, if everything is going to be the same that way, you might as well vote for someone who actually listens to our opinion on things.”
Their next-door neighbour said he “grew up Liberal,” but also believed politicians of all political stripes are “all the same.”
“I can’t stand watching it on TV with question period. They’re just like a bunch of kids,” he said.
“They don’t do anything. It’s always just – you did this and you did that – and they don’t accomplish anything. They’re going to get in whether I vote or not, and they’re going to do whatever they want whether I like it or not. It’s sad, but that’s the way it is.”
Voting on byelection day, Nov. 27, will begin at 9 a.m. and extend until 7 p.m. Three advance polling days were held last week. Results will be tallied after the polls are closed and announced to the public Monday evening.
