CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - The year 2018 has been a critical year in the political career of Wade MacLauchlan.
Opinion polls have not been kind to the premier during this term in office. MacLauchlan’s personal approval rating fell far below that of Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker, while the Liberal party has been effectively tied with the Green party in opinion polls since May.
But in a year-end interview with The Guardian, MacLauchlan expressed confidence in his record of stewardship of the provincial economy, which he believes has provided his government with the resources to invest in social program spending.
“I’m happy to be premier at this time and I’ll be happy to be a premier that’s going into an election with that mandate,” MacLauchlan said.
Although MacLauchlan was coy about providing details of the timing on the next provincial election – “we’re a day closer today than we were yesterday,” he told The Guardian – he hinted that preparations were underway.
“Everybody’s kind of getting warmed up,” he said.
MacLauchlan spoke about a wide range of issues in the interview, touching on the state of the Island’s economy, the decision to cancel the investor-stream of the Provincial Nominee Program and the continuing housing crunch. He also spoke about his concerns about the state of the global economy and the rise of populism in Canadian politics.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The Guardian: You have had a lot of fortune as a premier. You’ve seen the benefits of a very strong economy, but it doesn’t seem that it’s being reflected in opinion polls right now. Why do you think that is?
MacLauchlan: There are two questions on these polls that are not hypothetical. One is how do you feel about the job the government is doing. But there’s a further one. They say, ‘Do you agree or disagree that the province is headed in the right strategic direction?’
In August when they asked that, 71 per cent of Prince Edward Islanders said yes. The answer for Nova Scotia was 53 per cent, for New Brunswick was 51 per cent, for Newfoundland and Labrador 45 per cent.
When I’m this far into a mandate, when the province is unfolding as it is, that’s as much as I believe I can ask for. I’m happy to be premier at this time and I’ll be happy to be premier that’s going into an election with that mandate.
Q: Let’s get into the economy for a moment. The Island leads the region in job growth, but there were some challenges as well. The farming sector was hit pretty hard with a tough year. We’ve had some plant closures – DME, Cavendish Farms. Do you think some of these challenges are offsetting the gains you’re seeing in the economy in P.E.I.?
A: You have to look at the economy as a whole. One of the things I love about the Island’s economy is that we have an economy that’s integrated. And it’s a balanced economy – that’s to say we don’t rely on one single thing. So as time goes on, I’m confident or optimistic that something will rebound in the case of DME.
But let’s talk about manufacturing generally, which is one of the stars of the P.E.I. economy. It’s different from the rest of the region and way ahead of Canada as a whole.
Canada recently reported that they’ve had an 8 per cent increase over 12 months in manufacturing. P.E.I. over that same period grew almost 39 per cent. This is in fine manufacturing, it’s in food, it’s in people creating new products. They’re constantly innovating and getting out to the market.
Our economy as a whole is balanced, it’s integrated, it’s diversified. The number I love to point to is 7,000 new full-time jobs created in the space of two years.
Q: In September, it fell to the Minister of Tourism and Economic Development Chris Palmer to announce that the entrepreneurship stream of the Provincial Nominee Program was effectively going to be discontinued. Why was he the one to make this announcement this year as opposed to yourself?
A: Our immigration programs, are all through the Department of Economic Development and Tourism. That’s been the case going back to the founding of that investor stream, which would take you into the early 1990's, which is a ministerial portfolio.
What took place this year is, for the investor stream, we closed it. We converted it from a deposit stream to a work permit stream. Which is more in line with what we have for a number of other immigration programs.
"The big way of understanding where we are today, in overall immigration of Prince Edward Island, is that 85 per cent of the people who come as immigrants, come for work, with their families, in a community with settlement arrangements."
Q: A few people have suggested there was pressure on the part of federal authorities [to close the investor stream of the PNP]. We've seen the recent Canada Border Services Agency prosecution of the owners of the Sherwood Motel.
From what you understand, was there pressure from federal government authorities to alter how provincial nominee programs work in P.E.I.?
A: I can be 100 per cent clear on that: no.
We've had a good relationship with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and we've had that over a number of years - at various times in which we've had discussions about the shape and the flow of the investor program.
The Border Services people, they operate entirely separately from the immigration department. They brought forward that prosecution, which has now been stayed. And I think that's a reflection of the merits of the case.
I think it's unfortunate for the people that were caught up in it. I was very proud, frankly, of how fully they expressed their belief in Canada, their belief in the rule of law. Where this now stands, they went to trial. It probably should have been thrown out, but the federal crown stayed it.
The big way of understanding where we are today, in overall immigration of Prince Edward Island, is that 85 per cent of the people who come as immigrants, come for work, with their families, in a community with settlement arrangements.
And I think we are seeing a totally different reality in terms of people coming, staying, attaching, contributing to the community and building what we set out to build through our overall population action plan.
Q: One of the political stories of this year has been the rise in popularity of the Green Party. Why do you think the Green Party at this time seems to be connecting with Islanders?
A: I think we're in a time when voters, they get tempted, whether it's in the States, in Ontario or Brexit. People are of a mind to be looking at what the options are.
I will say that, come election day, the voters will have a choice that they have each time - how do they feel about their own lives? How do they feel about the government in power and who is making a plausible promise for the future? And it's always that promise for the future that voters are interested in.
Q: Another possible development is the scenario in which there might be a minority government. If this were to occur, which party do you believe the Liberals under your leadership would be more likely to align themselves with?
A: I believe, frankly, that Prince Edward Islanders should want a stable government.
As a small province that remains challenged in terms of our prosperity relative to the rest of the country, there's a lot of benefit in having a majority government that can bring forward a program and, at the same time, work along with all of the other players in the democratic process.
Q: We've also seen, on the PC side, the resignation of their leader, James Aylward. Are there any predictions as to who might come out on top in the leadership race?
A: It's a busy field. I'm observing it closely but that's as far as I get in terms of my role in it.
Q: Do you have any fears about the state of politics in P.E.I.? In other parts of the country, there's been the rise of, for lack of a better term, populist options.
A: Two answers to that. One fear I have is on the larger global or even national scene in terms of the economy. Things are, I would call, precarious in terms of the trade wars that are going on [and] some of the demonstrated inexperience of some of the leaders when it comes to the economy. The world economy is not in as firm or robust a condition today as it was this time last year.
In terms of populism, I'm watching that very closely. I'm watching what's going on around Brexit, I'm watching what's going on in some of our provinces in Canada. It does, frankly, concern me, in terms of the tendency to oversimplify things or to appeal to instincts that don't wear well over the long-term when it comes to our values and our democracy here in Prince Edward Island.
Q: Do you believe that, in the last year, you have moved adequately to address the shortage of rental units in P.E.I.?
A: We, in mid-year, produced a housing action plan that, in its scale, its elements and its partners would be far more robust than anything that's happened in this province since the mid-1980's. Is it enough? This is a long-term proposition and it's the nature of a response to what is a supply challenge in housing. You don't just snap your fingers and it's done.
We've committed to spend $30 million over these two fiscal cycles. In the period we're in now, we've gone from having 275 rent supplements to over 600. That's an example of how you can respond quickly because you go to where people are. They don't have to move, they qualify, they're assisted with, they make their life more affordable and comfortable. We've got a number of initiatives with municipal partners, private developers and community-based organizations who are actively in the process of putting forward the plans that will unfold over the course of the first months of 2019.
Ultimately, it's a supply problem. On the private sector, both single and multi-unit premises, we're seeing a construction boom and a response to demand on a scale that we probably haven't seen in decades. This takes time. We're talking this year about a thousand units for the supply-demand private side. We're talking over two years, a thousand units on the social or affordable housing side or public housing.
Q: Looking back on the last year, was there a moment or a decision of your government that you felt was the most memorable?
A: I was really proud in mid-June when we turned social assistance on its head. We went from talking about eligibility, and even clawing back money, to talking about people's abilities and capabilities.
So that's a big one. I'm proud of that because what it shows is a government that's had several years of prosperity in the province. Islanders are doing well, we've got the revenue line above the expenditure line. That's always something you strive for and we've been successful.
Q: Is there any one decision over the last three years that you might change if you could do it over again?
A: It may not seem like a big one to most people, but it's one of tone.
Your colleague Jim Day asked me [a question] on the day we unveiled the 'Maybe you Should Come Home' repatriation campaign. He asked about the repurposing of the O'Leary packaging plant. It was asked 'can you really invite people to come home when you're losing these 40 jobs?'
I said 'we have to look at it in the context of a dynamic economy and there are other jobs' and so on.
If I had a chance to go back and do that over again, of course I would say 'well, we're really concerned about the people, their livelihoods and their community of West Prince and we're going to get in there and roll up our sleeves and do something.'
But it was in a different context.
I spent a lot of time talking to Alex Campbell about his days as premier. And he would say to me 'the best speech you make is on the way home.'
There's a good example of, if I could have had a do-over on that one or turned around and gone back, I would have."
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Parts 2 and 3 of the video interview with P.E.I. Premier Wade MacLauchlan will be published online Friday, Dec. 28 and Saturday, Dec. 29, respectively.