P.E.I. party leaders reflect on the highs and lows of an 8-week spring legislature sitting
CBC
After eight weeks, the second session of the 67th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island wrapped up Friday.
The spring sitting was Rob Lantz's first in the role of premier after Dennis King's shock resignation back in February, which led to the legislature being prorogued by a month past its originally scheduled start date.
Safety in Island schools and the Progressive Conservative government's multimillion-dollar tourism deal with the National Hockey League were dominant topics of debate during question period.
MLAs are scheduled to return for the fall sitting on Nov. 4.
Lantz was sworn in as premier about a month before the spring sitting began.
"It's been a whirlwind couple of months for me," Lantz said, adding that he felt well-prepared to begin work in the legislature, but that the role of premier takes a little getting used to.
"I enjoyed it, but it's a lot of hard work and I'm glad to get to the end," he said.
The PC government passed 19 bills, including the Interprovincial Trade and Mobility Act, which Lantz said was a personal high point. He brought the legislation to the floor himself.
All provincial governments are working hard to smooth out interprovincial trade, and the act was P.E.I.'s effort to contribute, Lantz said.
Other bills that passed included the Funeral Services Act, the Tariff Response Plan and changes to corporate and personal income taxes.
As for a low point of the sitting, Lantz said the back and forth nature of the legislature can get under people's skin.
"Things get pretty prickly in the legislature sometimes," he said, adding that this spring saw more of that dynamic than usual.
The premier had tense exchanges with Official Opposition Leader Hal Perry this week following comments Lantz made about the P.E.I. Liberal Party's spending that cited inaccurate figures from an annual report.
Perry asked the premier to apologize, but Lantz doubled down.
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