Meet the party leaders running in P.E.I.'s provincial election

As we enter the final days of the 2023 Prince Edward Island election campaign, we spoke with the party leaders about the campaign, the issues that matter most to them, and their party then and now. 

Here is what they had to say.

The Progressive Conservatives went into this election with 15 seats in the legislative assembly, hungry to maintain their majority government status and grow their caucus.

Leader Dennis King was a first-time politician in the 2019 campaign and is now seeking his second term in the premier's chair.

King leads a full slate of 27 candidates and his party heads into election day on April 3 in a strong polling position, according to data from the latest Narrative Research poll.

The New Democratic Party was the underdog among the four main parties heading into the campaign. They haven't had a candidate elected to the legislature since 1996. 

Leader Michelle Neill took the reins of the party just a year ago and is looking to be elected for the first time in any level of politics.

Alongside her are a full slate of 26 other candidates from across the Island, including, in West Prince, the first and only NDP politician ever elected to the P.E.I. legislature, Herb Dickieson.

The Liberal Party is hitting for the fences in this election after dropping to third-party status and dwindling from 16 seats to six in the 2019 election. The party entered the 2023 race with just three incumbents re-offering.

Leader Sharon Cameron may be running for political office for the first time, but she has more than a decade of experience as a deputy minister. She's taking on Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker in District 17: New Haven-Rocky Point.

Cameron and 24 other Liberal candidates are running in this election, including an incumbent in Charlottetown and two in West Prince.

The Green Party is looking to follow up on its historic success in the 2019 election — which saw eight candidates elected and the party forming the Official Opposition.

That was a feat for the Greens that had never happened before in the history of Canadian politics. 

Leader Peter Bevan-Baker has twice won his district convincingly. This time he's facing Liberal Leader Sharon Cameron in his own district — a political move by Cameron that shocked Islanders, as leaders typically don't run against each other.