Prince Edward Island Liberal Party
Prince Edward Island Liberal Party | |
---|---|
Active provincial party | |
Leader | Wade MacLauchlan |
President | Scott Barry |
Founded | 1873 (1873) |
Headquarters | 39 Kent Street Charlottetown, PE C1A 4N4 |
Ideology | Liberalism |
Political position | Centre |
National affiliation | Liberal Party of Canada |
Colours | Red |
Fiscal policy | Centre |
Social policy | Centre-left |
Seats in Legislature | 16 / 27 |
Website | |
www.liberalpei.ca | |
|
The Prince Edward Island Liberal Party (officially the Prince Edward Island Liberal Association)[1] is a major political party in the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada. The PEI Liberals are affiliated with the federal Liberal Party of Canada. The party is led by Premier Wade MacLauchlan, a former president of the University of Prince Edward Island.
It was created when PEI was a British colony by Reformers who agitated for the system of responsible government. This was granted by the British crown to the colony in 1851.
George Coles was its dominant figure in its first decades. While initially supportive of Canadian Confederation, Coles and the Liberals soured on the project, and it was not until 1873 that the island joined Canada as a means of relieving the PEI government's severe debts.
The early party supported the abolition of school fees, and a resolution to the "Land Question" that divided the province. The Liberals supported land reform through the state acquisition of large landed estates. These estates were broken up and turned over to tenants and squatters.
The Liberals have been one of only two parties forming government on the island since 1851, the other being the Conservatives. The Liberals have formed government more often, but not in recent times. In practice, there is little to distinguish the two parties from each other: both lean towards the centre of the political spectrum. The Liberals being slightly to the left and the Conservatives (Tories) slightly to the right.
Traditionally, the Tories have done better among Protestant voters, while Liberals have had more support from Catholics. Politics on the island, however, has never been sectarian, and both parties have always had voters and members from both populations. Indeed, it has been the custom until recently for a Liberal incumbent of one denomination to be opposed by a Tory challenger of the same denomination and vice versa. This had tended to minimise religious sectarianism within the parties. The Liberals have also traditionally enjoyed the support of the province's small Acadian population concentrated in Prince County at the west end of the island. Conservative support has tended to be greater on the eastern half of the island.
In the past forty years the most significant figures in the party have been Alexander B. Campbell and, later, Joe Ghiz. Liberal governments in the 1960s and 1970s under Campbell supported diversification of the province's agricultural economy. Government incentives were provided to attract manufacturing and tourism. Under Ghiz in the 1980s, the Liberals opposed free trade between Canada and the United States, and the federal Tory government's decision to close a military base on the island. The party's enthusiasm for economic intervention in the economy had waned since the Campbell years.
In addition to winning two general elections under Joseph A. Ghiz, Canada's first provincial premier of non-European ancestry, the PEI Liberal Party won a subsequent election in 1993 under Catherine Callbeck, the first woman to be elected as a provincial premier in Canada.
After more than ten years in opposition (the last four under leader Robert Ghiz), the Liberals defeated the Progressive Conservatives (under Pat Binns) in the 2007 election. The Liberals won re-election in 2011.
Contents
1 Current MLAs
2 Liberal leaders
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Current MLAs
Paula Biggar, Tyne Valley-Linkletter
Jordan Brown, Charlottetown-Brighton
Richard Brown, Charlottetown-Victoria Park
Kathleen Casey, Charlottetown-Lewis Point
Sonny Gallant, Evangeline-Miscouche
Robert Henderson, O'Leary-Inverness
Heath MacDonald, Cornwall-Meadowbank
Wade MacLauchlan, York-Oyster Bed
Alan McIsaac, Vernon River-Stratford
Robert Mitchell, Charlottetown-Sherwood
Tina Mundy, Summerside-St. Eleanors
Pat Murphy, Alberton-Roseville
Chris Palmer, Summerside-Wilmot
Hal Perry, Tignish-Palmer Road
Allen Roach, Montague-Kilmuir
Buck Watts, Tracadie-Hillsborough Park
Liberal leaders
George Coles, 1851–1869
Joseph Hensley, 1869
Robert Haythorne, 1869–1876
Louis Henry Davies, 1876–1882
John Yeo, 1882–1891
Frederick Peters, 1891–1897
Alexander Warburton, 1897–1898
Donald Farquharson, 1898–1901
Arthur Peters, 1901–1908
Francis Haszard, 1908–1911
Herbert James Palmer, 1911-1912
John Richards, 1912–1915
John Howatt Bell, 1915–1923
Albert Charles Saunders, 1923–1930
Walter Lea, 1930–1936
Thane Campbell, 1936–1943
John Walter Jones, 1943–1953
Alex W. Matheson, 1953–1965
Lorne Bonnell, 1965 (interim)
Alexander B. Campbell, 1965–1978
Bennett Campbell, 1978 (interim), 1978–1981
Gilbert Clements, 1981 (interim)
Joseph A. Ghiz, 1981–1993
Catherine Callbeck, 1993–1996
Keith Milligan, 1996–1999
Wayne Carew, 1999–2000
Ron MacKinley, 2000–2003 (interim)
Robert Ghiz, 2003–2015
Wade MacLauchlan, 2015–present
See also
- List of Prince Edward Island premiers
- List of PEI political parties
- Politics of Prince Edward Island
- Prince Edward Island Liberal Party leadership elections
References
^ "Prince Edward Island Liberal Association Contributions 2015" (PDF). Elections Prince Edward Island. May 31, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2016..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
External links
Prince Edward Island Liberal Party, official website- Young Liberals of PEI