PEI General Election 2015

[DC Al Fine]

Definitely May 4th. It's the only day before Mothers Day that fits the minimum campaign length and the requirement that all elections be on a Monday.

Right after MacLauchlan took office, they were blindsided by the e-gaming scandal:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/small-island-big-bet-how-pei-lost-its-online-gambling-gamble/article23237214/

No polls since then, so we can't measure the political impact yet. The most recent poll from February (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/liberal-lead-holding-on-p-e-i-poll-1.2981184) had the Liberals leading 58-26. Don't expect many during the campaign either. It's a tiny province.

Indeed. PEI resembles national campaigns from the 50's. Two polls all campaign and no one has any idea what's going on.

[DC Al Fine]

FTR I predict status quo. Liberals win a majority and the Tories hold 1-5 seats.

[DC Al Fine]

PEI is Prince Edward Island.

Yeah, thanks, I happen to know that. I meant that not everybody necessarily knows that, and it could be good to explain in a few lines where it is, and what their political scene is like. Oh well...

It's a very small island. Their politics revolve around centrist consensus and patronage. Their elections aren't really exciting except the winners tend to win huge majorities because the electorate is so uniform.

[DC Al Fine]

Polls closing now.

Lib: 22
PC: 5

Let the games begin.

[DC Al Fine]

Lantz is trailing in his seat.

[DC Al Fine]

Yeah, NDP won't have any seat. Early vote was counted in Lewis Point and Liberals won by 109 votes.

NDP has been having it really rough in Atlantic Canada in recent years.

Well, honestly, they deserve it. Follow the Green strategy. Focus totally on your leader and get it elected. Don't run him in a random rural or suburban riding (like Cardy or Redmond did).

Well, Cardy ran in Fredericton. But yeah, they should've learned their lesson.

Ironically, the AB Liberals seem to have learned it. CBC does a little "where the leaders are" article every day, and Swann is door knocking in his riding most of the time.

[DC Al Fine]

Yeah, NDP won't have any seat. Early vote was counted in Lewis Point and Liberals won by 109 votes.

NDP has been having it really rough in Atlantic Canada in recent years.

Well, honestly, they deserve it. Follow the Green strategy. Focus totally on your leader and get it elected. Don't run him in a random rural or suburban riding (like Cardy or Redmond did).

Well, Cardy ran in Fredericton. But yeah, they should've learned their lesson.

Ironically, the AB Liberals seem to have learned it. CBC does a little "where the leaders are" article every day, and Swann is door knocking in his riding most of the time.

The NDP did not learn from the failures in NB, and the success of the Greens. The problem is the party is trying to run a full campaign and you just can't really do that with no seats. Also the NDP in both NB and PEI were polling much stronger before the election was called then they did come vote day.

I wouldn't call PEI a failure for the NDP. It's a tiny rural place, not exactly fertile ground for them. At least New Brunswick has a university town and a small industrial city for the NDP to compete in. In PEI there's nothing.

[DC Al Fine]

Umm, PEI also has a university

Technically yes, but in terms of economic impact, UNB has a much greater influence on Fredericton than UPEI does on Charlottetown.