Prince Edward Island general election, 2011

Prince Edward Island general election, 2011

2007 ← October 3, 2011 (2011-10-03) → 65th

27 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 14 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party   PC Leader Robert Ghiz Olive Crane Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader's seat Charlottetown-Brighton Morell-Mermaid Last election 23 seats, 52.93% 4 seats, 41.35% Seats before 24 2 Seats won 22 5 Seat change -1 +1 Percentage 51.39% 40.18% Swing -1.54% -1.17%

Map of PEI's ridings coloured in based on how they voted

Premier before election Robert Ghiz Liberal Elected Premier Robert Ghiz Liberal

The 64th Prince Edward Island general election was held on October 3, 2011.^[1][2]

The Liberal government of Robert Ghiz was re-elected to a second majority government, winning one seat less than they did in 2007. Ghiz himself considered 18 seats to be a marker for a strong majority. He won 22.

Health care was an important issue during the election, especially in rural areas.^[3]

The Progressive Conservatives retained their position as Official Opposition, winning five seats. Olive Crane used the issue of the Provincial Nominee Program during the election, as well as issues surrounding immigration and investments that came under investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Federal Minister Jason Kenney during the election.^[4]

Results

Both the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives lost votes, and lost in the share of vote. Turnout was down and seven thousand fewer voters cast ballots total. The Greens and New Democrats increased both their raw vote and their share of the vote, and the new Island party took nearly a full percentage point. Three incumbent Liberal MLAs were defeated by Progressive Conservatives; the Progressive Conservatives retained one of the two seats they held at the dissolution of the previous legislature, as well as one vacant seat which they held prior to the resignation of Michael Currie from the legislature in March 2011, while the Liberals gained one seat whose Progressive Conservative incumbent did not stand for re-election.

The election saw one riding, Kellys Cross-Cumberland, have six candidates, a rarity in PEI elections.

The PC Party solidified their base in central-east PEI, winning four ridings that were part of the federal riding of Cardigan, and carried the region. The PC Party also managed to win a single seat on the northern tip of the Island.

Summary of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island election results

Party		Party leader	Candidates	Seats				Popular vote
				2007	Dissol.	2011	Change	#	%	Change
	Liberals	Robert Ghiz	27	23	24	22	-1	38,304	51.39%	-1.54%
	Progressive Conservatives	Olive Crane	27	4	2	5	+1	29,948	40.18%	-1.17%
	Greens	Sharon Labchuk	22	-	-	0		3,239	4.35%	+1.31%
	New Democrats	James Rodd	14	-	-	0		2,355	3.16%	+1.20%
	Island Party	Billy Cann	12	*	-	0		682	0.91%	*
	Independents and no affiliation		1	-	-	0		15	0.00	-0.73%
	Vacant				1
Total			103	27	27	27		74,543

* The Island Party of Prince Edward Island was not a registered political party at the time of the 2007 election.

Results by region

Party Name			Cardigan	Malpeque	Charlottetown	Egmont	Total
	Liberal	Seats:	3	8	5	6	22
		Popular Vote:	42.6%	52.8%	54.3%	57.1%	51.4%
	Progressive Conservative	Seats:	4	0	0	1	5
		Popular Vote:	49.7%	38.1%	31.2%	38.9%	40.2%
Total seats:			7	8	5	7	27
Parties that won no seats:
	Green	Vote:	636	1,191	927	471	3,239
		Popular Vote:	3.3%	4.8%	7.4%	2.7%	4.3%
	NDP	Vote:	403	926	873	147	2,355
		Popular Vote:	2.1%	3.7%	7.0%	0.8%	3.2%
	Island Party	Vote:	470	98	19	95	682
		Popular Vote:	2.4%	0.4%	0.2%	0.5%	0.9%
	Independent	Vote:		15			15
		Popular Vote:		0.1%			0.02%

Incumbent MLAs not running for re-election

Progressive Conservative Michael Currie (resigned, March 28, 2011), Georgetown-St. Peters[5] Jim Bagnall, Montague-Kilmuir Opinion polls Polling Firm Date of Polling Link Liberal Progressive Conservatives Greens New Democrats Corporate Research Associates 02011-09-29September 29, 2011 HTML 53 36 5 5 Corporate Research Associates 02011-08-10August 10-28, 2011 PDF 59 31 3 7 Corporate Research Associates 02011-06-10June 10, 2011 PDF 51 35 2 13 Corporate Research Associates 02011-03-09March 9, 2011 PDF 62 25 2 11 Corporate Research Associates 02010-12-06December 6, 2010 PDF 53 34 8 4 Corporate Research Associates 02010-08-24August 24, 2010 PDF 61 30 2 6 Corporate Research Associates 02010-05-31May 31, 2010 PDF 61 27 3 8 Corporate Research Associates 02010-02-24February 24, 2010 HTML 64 26 4 6 Corporate Research Associates 02009-12-03December 3, 2009 HTML 57 31 3 9 Corporate Research Associates 02009-08-01August 2009 HTML 62 27 5 6 Corporate Research Associates 02009-05-01May 2009 HTML 57 32 4 7 Corporate Research Associates 02009-02-01February 2009 HTML 64 28 2 6 Corporate Research Associates 02008-11-01November 2008 HTML 55 31 5 8 Corporate Research Associates 02008-08-01August 2008 HTML 63 25 6 6 Corporate Research Associates 02008-05-01May 2008 HTML 61 27 4 7 Corporate Research Associates 02008-02-01February 2008 HTML 68 34 4 6 Corporate Research Associates 02007-11-01November 2007 HTML 64 22 5 5 Election 2007 02007-05-28May 28, 2007 HTML 52.9 41.4 3.0 1.9 Riding by riding results Cardigan Electoral district Candidates   Incumbent   Liberal   PC   Green   NDP   Island   Other Belfast-Murray River Charlie McGeoghegan 1,132 Darlene Compton 1,124 John Burhoe 115 Andy Clarey 99   Charlie McGeoghegan Georgetown-St. Peters Kevin Gotell 1,213   Steven Myers 1,575 Jason Furness 47 Jane Dunphy 87 Ray Cantelo 32   Vacant Montague-Kilmuir Allen Roach 1,127 Greg Farrell 1,004 Vanessa Young 77   Billy Cann 200   Jim Bagnall† Morell-Mermaid Dan MacDonald 1,033   Olive Crane 1,649 Darcie Lanthier 114 Roger Nowe 33 Olive Crane Souris-Elmira Allan Campbell 1,272 Colin LaVie 1,302 Jason MacGregor 106 Allan Campbell Stratford-Kinlock Cynthia Dunsford 1,241   James Aylward 2,020 Donald Killorn 164 Chris Van Ouwerkerk 205   Cynthia Dunsford Vernon River-Stratford   Alan McIsaac 1,311 Mary Ellen McInnis 1,054 Marion Pirch 119 Edith Perry 111   Alan McIsaac Malpeque Electoral district Candidates   Incumbent   Liberal   PC   Green   NDP   Island   Other Borden-Kinkora George Webster 1,590 Jamie Fox 1,468 Conor Leggott 160     George Webster Cornwall-Meadowbank   Ron MacKinley 1,666 Larry Hogan 756 Allieanna Ballagh 172 Jay Gallant 43 Ron MacKinley Kellys Cross-Cumberland   Valerie Docherty 1,768 Neila Auld 961 Peter Bevan-Baker 306 Jesse Reddins Cousins 182 Paul Smitz 37 Arthur C. Mackenzie 15 Valerie Docherty Kensington-Malpeque   Wes Sheridan 1,820 Wilber Lamont 1,165 George S. Hunter 198 Wes Sheridan Rustico-Emerald Carolyn Bertram 1,498 Brad Trivers 1,341 Ron Wagner 187       Carolyn Bertram Tracadie-Hillsborough Park Buck Watts 1,304 Glen Kelly 1,136 Helene LaRouche 93 Ron Kelly 136 Gary Chipman 18   Buck Watts West Royalty-Springvale Bush Dumville 1,432 Gary Bowness 1,369 Liz Vaine 151 Andrew Want 160     Bush Dumville York-Oyster Bed   Robert Vessey 1,988 Martie Murphy 1,235 Jenet Clement 122 James Rodd 250   Robert Vessey Charlottetown Electoral district Candidates   Incumbent   Liberal   PC   Green   NDP   Island   Other Charlottetown-Brighton   Robert Ghiz 1,228 Linda Clements 699 Elizabeth Schoales 238 Trevor John LeClerc 176       Robert Ghiz Charlottetown-Lewis Point   Kathleen Casey 1,411 Parnell Kelly 895 Charles Sanderson 132 Jacquie Robichaud 275       Kathleen Casey Charlottetown-Parkdale   Doug Currie 1,510 Bernie Flynn 665 Eliza Knockwood 152 Noel Pauley 118     Doug Currie Charlottetown-Sherwood   Robert Mitchell 1,538 Mike Gillis 1,060 Sarah Jones 127 Kat Murphy 127     Robert Mitchell Charlottetown-Victoria Park   Richard Brown 1,105 Myles MacKinnon 582 Sharon Labchuk 278 Rita Jackson 177 Philip Stewart 19     Richard Brown Egmont Electoral district Candidates   Incumbent   Liberal   PC   Green   NDP   Island   Other Alberton-Roseville   Pat Murphy 1,604 David Gordon 1,137 Gerald O'Meara 71 Mitch Gallant 43     Pat Murphy Evangeline-Miscouche   Sonny Gallant 1,722 Edgar Arsenault 418 Melissa Hotte 64 Arthur Arsenault 26     Sonny Gallant O'Leary-Inverness   Robert Henderson 1,431 Daniel MacDonald 1,147         Robert Henderson Summerside-St. Eleanors   Gerard Greenan 1,426 Merlin Cormier 1,037 Caleb Adams 145 Paulette Halupa 147   Gerard Greenan Summerside-Wilmot   Janice Sherry 1,315 Shirley Anne Cameron 875 Rosalyn Ridlington Abbott 191     Janice Sherry Tignish-Palmer Road Neil LeClair 1,142 Hal Perry 1,175   Derek D. Peters 26     Neil LeClair Tyne Valley-Linkletter   Paula Biggar 1,390 Jim Henwood 1,037       Paula Biggar References ^ Wayne Thibodeau (January 11, 2011). "Next election will be fought on new ideas, not new spending: Ghiz". the Guardian. http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/1969-12-31/article-2105770/Next-election-will-be-fought-on-new-ideas-not-new-spendingGhiz/1. Retrieved January 21, 2011.  ^ John Ibbitson (January 10, 2011). "Can Harper wait out the election traffic jam?". Ottawa Notebook. Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/can-harper-wait-out-the-election-traffic-jam/article1863565/. Retrieved January 21, 2011.  ^ "Ghiz wins 2nd term as P.E.I. premier". http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/peivotes2011/story/2011/10/03/peivotes-election-night-lead-584.html.  ^ "Crane and 4 Tories voted in". http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/peivotes2011/story/2011/10/03/peivotes-conservatives.html.  ^ "Currie to run in Cardigan". CBC News, March 28, 2011. External links Election Almanac - Prince Edward Island Provincial Election 2011