Spring sitting of P.E.I. legislature closes

After 22 days of debate, the spring sitting of the P.E.I. legislature came to a close Friday afternoon.

The sitting saw the MacLauchlan Liberals present a budget with a modest $601,000 surplus. The last balanced budget passed on P.E.I. was in 2006, under PC premier Pat Binns.

• P.E.I. government finally balances budget, projects $600K surplus

Government passed 16pieces of legislation. Of those, Premier Wade MacLauchlan says his government's biggest achievement this spring was passing four bills to provide more protection and support for children at risk, particularly those at the centre of heated custody disputes.

But both opposition parties say those measures don't go far enough. As they have in each sitting since the fall of 2015, Progressive Conservatives and the legislature's lone Green MLA continued to press government to appoint a child advocate for the province.

• Premier willing to consider child advocate, but 'first things first'

Government also passed legislation which could open the door for midwives to finally be able to operate in the province.

• Door could open for midwives with P.E.I. Registered Professions Act

No school closures

Hours before the spring sitting began, the premier held a media conference to announce cabinet wouldn't allow any schools to close, despite a months-longreview, and recommendations from the Public Schools Branch that three schools be closed.

The debate over that review process dominated the early days of the sitting, with a former director of the Public Schools Branch Pat Mella delivering an incendiary letter of resignation to Education Minister Doug Currie on the second day of the sitting, saying she was "thrown under the bus" by government.

• No schools will close, says P.E.I. premier
• Pat Mella resigns from P.E.I. Public Schools Branch

Stiffer penalties for deleted emails

A bill that lays out penalties for those who contravene the province's Archives and Records Act was also passed.

That bill was in response to the auditor general's discovery during her e-gaming investigation that some government emails that should have been retained were deleted.

• Whose emails were deleted? P.E.I. opposition finally has an answer

At the insistence of the Opposition, government stiffened the penalties included in the bill, passing an amendment stipulating a civil servantcould be terminated, along with facing a fine of up to $10,000.

In the final week of the sitting the Opposition turned its focus once again to the province's failed bid to become a regulator of online gambling, questioning whatthe current Finance Minister Allen Roach knew about the plan at the time, and calling for his resignation.

• P.E.I. Opposition questions finance minister's knowledge of e-gaming file

What didn't pass

In some ways the sitting was notable for some of the legislation that didn't pass the premier tabled legislation to provide protection for whistleblowers but didn't bring it up for debate.

• Whistleblower legislation on the way, says P.E.I. premier

Neither was a bill to create a lobbyist registry tabled last fall brought up for debate.

• P.E.I. lobby registry has room for improvement, says advocate

And the province's much-anticipated Water Act wasn't tabled, despite minister Robert Mitchell saying in April he hoped to bring the bill to the floor.

Now that legislation to protect the Island's water supply will have to wait until November before it can be debated.

• New Water Act would ban water exports

Green leader Peter Bevan-Baker introduced a private member's bill to lower the provincial voting age to 16 which was voted down.

• Bill to lower voting age introduced in P.E.I. Legislature

Among the arguments put forward against the move, from both Liberal and PC MLAS: it could lead to young offenders being elected to the legislature; it could lead to 16-year-olds enlisting in the military and being sent to war; and it could provide the impetus for a constitutional challenge to lower the province's drinking age to 16.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Province announces $15,000 for new P.D. day literacy program
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | MLA says work on democratic reform should continue