Meet the 5 people running federally in P.E.I.'s Charlottetown riding

With less than a month until Canadians head to the polls to vote in the federal election, candidates across P.E.I. are hitting the campaign trail in an effort to become — or remain — a member of Parliament. To make sense of who's running for which party and where, CBC P.E.I. spoke to the candidates running in each of the province's four ridings. 

Up next is Charlottetown. 

The province's most urban riding — which contains the City of Charlottetown and some outlying areas toward Winsloe, Brackley and Miltonvale Park — has been held by the Liberals for more than 30 years. Liberal MP Sean Casey has represented the people of Charlottetown for the last four terms. 

Joe Byrne is no stranger to campaigning. The former leader of the provincial NDP previously ran in the 2011, 2015 and 2019 federal elections, as well as the 2023 and 2019 provincial elections. 

Campaigning for the April 28 election, Byrne said he often tells voters: "If you want change, you have to vote for it. Voting for something that you don't want will not bring the change in that you want."

"As New Democrats, we have the courage actually to challenge the system and say that when a system doesn't work for regular residents of Charlottetown — for everybody — then it just doesn't work. So let's not be afraid to change it," he said. 

An NDP government would make life more affordable for Islanders with two key policies, Byrne said. 

First, it would introduce a basic guaranteed income. 

"This has been vetted by some of the top economists in the country. It's possible, and it would bring in a piece of economic stability for a lot of people who are, right now, vulnerable," he said. 

Second, an NDP government would regulate grocery store prices, which Byrne said have been running rampant since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"The major grocery chains are gouging us because they can," he said.

Byrne said an NDP government would also invest in housing and health. 

"We need publicly owned, publicly controlled housing to ensure that everybody gets decent housing. This is not a privilege, it's a right," he said, adding that building more homes is a top priority. 

"We've relied on the private sector to provide safe, affordable, accessible housing for the last three decades. And the private sector has an important role to play, but it will not deliver that kind of housing."