In the end it was not close.
The final vote was 19 in favour to three against, with four abstentions.
The closing of the fall session of P.E.I.’s legislature saw the passage of a $195-million capital budget that the Progressive Conservative government of Dennis King portrayed as a plan to steer P.E.I. through the choppy economic waters of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a lengthy capital estimates process, in which the Opposition Greens accused various ministers of failing to answer questions on the budget’s contents, it had appeared a significant number of MLAs might vote against it. The Appropriations Act for the capital budget was a confidence motion, meaning it would need to pass to keep the government from falling.
On Friday, three MLAs – Liberals Robert Henderson and Heath MacDonald and Green MLA Hannah Bell – voted against the capital budget.
But more vocal criticism came from four MLAs from the Opposition Green bench – Trish Altass, Ole Hammarlund, Michele Beaton and Leader Peter Bevan-Baker — who all abstained from voting.
The move was unusual for a leader of the Opposition.
Bevan-Baker told the legislature he was dismayed by allocations for affordable housing, a new mental health campus at Hillsborough Hospital and school construction that went unspent from the previous year’s budget.
"So far we've seen more of the dithering and lack of action that typified the previous administration," Bevan-Baker said. "In many areas of this budget, government was unable or simply unwilling to give specifics, which makes it very difficult for us on this side of the house who have critical responsibilities to review and scrutinize government."
Similar statements were made by Hammarlund, Altass and Beaton prior to the vote.
In an interview, King pointed out that an abstention in a parliamentarian system counts as a vote in favour. He called the arguments about transparency from the Greens a “false narrative”.
"As the leader of the province, I need every day to have the strength and courage to make decisions. I don't have the ability to abstain," King said. "We consulted with all parties in the development of this budget. I believe the Opposition Party asked for 13 requests — 12 of them are in the budget."
Liberal MLA Heath MacDonald called the abstentions from the Greens “rather cowardly”.
“People, society expect us to make those decisions. That's why we're elected,” MacDonald said. “If we all come in here with an attitude of abstaining on important votes, what would that do to the democratic process of Prince Edward Island?"
In an interview, Bevan-Baker said many members of his caucus felt the need to express dissent with the budget. But he said members of his caucus did not want to risk triggering a possible election through the defeat of a budget.
"I was talking my responsibility to Islanders as the leader of the Official Opposition to be absolutely sure that I did not contribute to something that I knew Islanders did not want," Bevan-Baker said. "I'm surprised to hear Heath actually describe it that way."
Throughout the session, the legislative assembly passed 28 bills introduced by government, in addition to the capital budget. Many seemed to involve relatively minor tweaks to existing legislation, but some were very substantial. One bill will allow the province to recover costs due to pending lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies related to the opioid crisis. Another would allow arbitration for the first contract of newly unionized workers.
King pointed to the Children’s Law Act, which revamped family law in the province, particularly as it relates to custody of children. It will also match legislation in P.E.I. to match recent changes to the Federal Divorce Act.
"I don't know if people who watch from the outside understand how much work goes into that. So that is a tremendous piece," King said.
Four bills introduced by the Liberals were passed during the session. One established March 21 as Down Syndrome Awareness Day, while another established a Winter Wellness Day in January to promote physical activities. Two other bills set out possible fines or jail time for individuals convicted of unlawfully entering places in which animals or livestock are kept.
"We listened to the agricultural community and the business community and people that had issues with health and that's where we went with this session," said interim Liberal Leader Sonny Gallant.
The Opposition Greens introduced one bill, the Net Zero Carbon Act, which was passed with support from all parties. The bill put in place a reporting framework for progress on climate change goals and set 2040 as the targeted date for achieving net zero emissions.
But the Greens focused significant attention during the session on debating non-binding motions, introducing five that were passed. One saw unanimous support amongst MLAs for a "moderate livelihood" for Mi’kmaq fishermen, both in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia.
Bevan-Baker said the focus on motions was intended to raise issues that are not always talked about.
"Sometimes the best way to make change is to have a really deep conversation about the issue,” Bevan-Baker said. "We chose to devote our time to motions that were more reflective of the concerns of Islanders that we were hearing day after day."
