P.E.I.’s Liberal party has moved a step closer to naming a new leader.
On Thursday, the party announced the appointment of its two leadership convention co-chairs, Libby Shaw and Randi Doyle. The two are tasked with steering the party’s leadership race and planning a leadership convention. The party is currently led by interim leader Sonny Gallant.
Shaw, an Alberton-based associate with Cox & Palmer, co-chaired the party's last leadership convention, which saw Wade MacLauchlan rise to the role of party leader.
MacLauchlan did not face an opponent in that contest, although recently retired MLA Robert Mitchell at one point publicly mused about running.
Shaw also served as a member of the P.E.I. Electoral Boundaries Commission in 2016.
Doyle, who is based in Stratford, is a professor of psychology at Minerva University, which is known worldwide for its online-only course delivery.
On Friday, both Shaw and Doyle said plans for a leadership convention are still at the drawing board stage.
"We're really just in the very early stages of meeting each other and learning what the process will look like," Shaw told The Guardian in a phone interview.
"Not only are we trying to navigate what is the new normal with COVID, we're leery of a secondary outbreak."
Recent federal leadership contests, such as the Conservatives and the ongoing Green Party race, have demonstrated they can be held virtually and can generate significant grassroots engagement.
But Doyle said it is unclear to what degree the P.E.I. leadership race will be held virtually. Some members of the P.E.I. party may have varying levels of comfort with online tools.
"This is where we have to consider (being) fair and inclusive, on top of the public health issues," Doyle said.
Doyle added the details around the timeline for membership sign-ups, candidate applications and other items have yet to be hashed out.
Many members of the P.E.I. Liberals were disappointed with the results in the 2019 provincial election, which saw the party reduced to third party status for the first time in its history. The party is currently polling at 23 per cent of public support, just behind the Greens but far back from the governing Progressive Conservatives.
Doyle believes the leadership contest could put new wind in the party's sails.
“I see a lot of opportunity for a sort of a grassroots movement and for new voices to be heard, new people to get involved," Doyle said.
A competitive leadership race could be the key to a comeback for the Liberals.
Prior to January 2019, the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) were polling well below the provincial Greens and the Liberals under the leadership of James Aylward. After Aylward stepped down, a competitive leadership race, with five active candidates, provided the PCs with significant grassroots momentum in the weeks leading up to the 2019 provincial election. Dennis King’s victory in that contest helped vault the party into its current minority government status.
The Liberal membership roster appears to reflect a healthy grassroots for the party, and currently stands at around 8,200 according to a party representative. The relative strength of the party’s federal MPs in the last election could account for this unusually high tally, as virtually all federal members would also count as provincial members.
By comparison, the P.E.I. PC membership numbers stood at 6,000 as of their most recent annual general meeting in November. The number of provincial Green members stood at 763 as of their last AGM in March.
