Prince Edward Island general election, 2003

The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island conducted a general election in September 2003 to elect the 27 members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The election was called on September 2 by Premier Pat Binns, who enjoyed a high level of popularity among voters.

Polling took place on September 29, despite a blackout across two-thirds of the province and other damage caused by Hurricane Juan.

Binns' Progressive Conservatives were re-elected to a third consecutive majority government, the first time this had happened in Island history (for the Cons/PC party). The Premier, who ran in Murray River-Gaspereaux, was re-elected, along with his entire existing cabinet.

The Liberals wrested three seats from the Tories, increasing their standing to four seats. The party's new leader, Robert Ghiz, was one of those. The son of former premier Joe Ghiz beat Charlottetown mayor George MacDonald in the riding of Charlottetown-Rochford Square in Charlottetown.

The New Democrats did not win any seats; their leader, Gary Robichaud, was defeated by a Tory incumbent in Wilmot-Summerside.

Results

Largest and smallest margins of victory

The five largest margins of victory were:
# Kensington-Malpeque: Mitch Murphy, PC, defeated Janice Sherry, Liberal, by 1416 votes.
# North River-Rice Point: Ron MacKinley, Liberal, defeated Donna Butler, PC, by 1103 votes.
# Murray River-Gaspereaux: Pat Binns, PC, defeated Michelle Johnston, Liberal, by 959 votes.
# Glen Stewart-Bellevue Cove: David McKenna, PC, defeated Eric Ellsworth, Liberal, by 958 votes.
# Alberton-Miminegash: Cletus Dunn, PC, defeated Robert B. White, Liberal, by 737 votes.

The five smallest margins of victory were:
# Sherwood-Hillsborough: Elmer MacFadyen, PC, defeated Robert Mitchell, Liberal, by 61 votes.
# Borden-Kinkora: Fred McCardle, PC, defeated Lorne Sutherland, Liberal, by 71 votes.
# St. Eleanors-Summerside: Helen MacDonald, PC, defeated Gerard Greenan, Liberal, by 93 votes.
# Evangeline-Miscouche: Wilfred Arsenault, PC, defeated Sonny Gallant, Liberal, by 104 votes.
# Charlottetown-Kings Square: Richard Brown, Liberal, defeated Bobby Macmillan, PC, by 142 votes.

Riding-by-riding results

-
bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Alberton-Miminegash
|
Robert Ghiz
1433|
J'Nan Brown
120||
|
David McKenna
2249|
Eric Ellsworth
1291|
Jane MacNeil
243|

|
Pat Binns
1584|
Michelle Johnston
625|
Edith Perry
45|

|
Chester Gillan
1562|
Charlie Cooke
897|
Nick Boragina
78|

|
Jamie Ballem
1858|
Robert Vessey
1400|
Gerard Gallant
78|

|
Don MacKinnon†

ee also

*List of PEI political parties

External links

* [http://www.gov.pe.ca/ Government of Prince Edward Island]
* [http://www.gov.pe.ca/election/index.php3 Elections PEI]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/peivotes2003/ CBC - PEI Votes 2003]

Parties

* [http://www.pcparty.pe.ca/ Progressive Conservative Party of PEI] (see also Progressive Conservative Party of Canada)
* [http://www.liberal.pe.ca/ Liberal Party of PEI] (see also Liberal Party of Canada)
* [http://www.ndppei.ca/ Island New Democrats] (see also New Democratic Party)