CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — It’s difficult not to get caught up in the political stakes for the upcoming Charlottetown-Winsloe byelection.
If PC candidate Zack Bell wins, P.E.I. would cease to have a minority government and would be best referred to as having a slim majority. If either Green candidate Chris van Ouwerkerk, NDP candidate Lynne Thiele or Liberal candidate Zac Murphy wins, P.E.I. would remain in a minority government situation.
But Liberal candidate Zac Murphy says these provincewide stakes are not his main focus. For him, it’s the local concerns that really matter.
“In my opinion, the residents of District 10 need to be the focus of absolutely everything that we do," Murphy said in a recent interview from his campaign office in the Sherwood Business Centre.
"There's no question, the stakes are huge. And I think the only way we can properly serve the people that live in this district is by allowing them a chance to get to know us as candidates."
At 29, Murphy is the youngest of the four candidates. His professional background is as a financial adviser with Younker & Kelly. But Murphy, who grew up in the district, also served as a member of the City of Charlottetown’s youth retention advisory board.
The board produced a 2018 youth housing report that served as an early push on decision-makers to address the housing crisis in P.E.I. The report also found that the increasing lack of affordability of housing, coupled with comparatively low wages, was a deterrent to young Islanders remaining in the province.
"That really generated a lot of conversation around this affordable housing,” Murphy said in an interview.
Among its recommendations, the report urged the City of Charlottetown to adopt inclusionary zoning policies and to obtain better data on the impact of short-term rentals on affordable housing.
Two years later, the outcomes have been mixed. Murphy believes the increased construction of rental housing has been a positive sign, but other elements, such as regulation of short-term rental operators, have been slow to come to fruition.
He believes all levels of government need to take a more hands-on role in planning housing, looking beyond four-year election cycles.
He also believes that maintaining a stronger Liberal opposition will produce a better government.
"I think people are generally happy with the minority situation that we're in right now. I think it's important that we keep it that way," Murphy said.
In Charlottetown-Winsloe, Murphy says the two issues he believes are generating the most discussion are the planned expansion of West Royalty Elementary School and the impact of addiction and mental health in the community.
But Murphy also said engaging directly with voters in the district is a clear priority. Part of this engagement will come through traditional door-to-door canvassing.
"The central point of our campaign is we want to get out and talk to as many people as we possibly can,” Murphy said.
“That's going to be through a number of mediums, whether it's the phone, whether it’s social media or whether it's door-to-door canvassing."
While the Liberals have completed an operational plan detailing how they will conduct physically-distanced door canvassing in the byelection, the Progressive Conservatives have said they will avoid door-knocking entirely.
In a media statement last week, Premier Dennis King urged other parties to “not bring unneeded worry and risk to the constituents” through door-to-door campaigning.
