MacLauchlan, Aylward, Bevan-Baker reflect on lengthy spring sitting

What's on the minds of P.E.I.'s political leaders after such a lengthy session?

With the longest sitting of the21stcentury coming to a close, CBC News spoke to the leaders of the Island's Liberal, Progressive Conservative and Green parties to look back at some ofthe spring session highlights.

• Longest sitting of P.E.I. legislature since 1999 comes to a close
• Much-amended P.E.I. referendum legislation passes

'There's still work to do': MacLauchlan

For the Liberals, some of the best of the spring session began on day two with what Premier Wade MacLauchlan calls the "best budget we've had in 40 or50 years."

"There's always more to do and I think that's precisely the point that I would make there's still work to do and that's the point that I made, indeed, the day we tabled the budget,"MacLauchlansaid.

Government's suicide prevention strategy, seniors' wellbeing initiatives and climate change action plan were among othernotable spring strides MacLauchlan pointed to as big accomplishments forthe Liberals.

"We are on a runway that started in May of 2015 and I'm proud of the extent to which we've achieved what we committed to do.

• P.E.I. releases suicide prevention strategy
• 100 new long-term care beds coming within 2 years, province says
• P.E.I. climate change action plan commits to 30% reduction

"I might say about the most recent session, that I'm really proud of our team and how our ministers and caucus members performed with a very sizeable agenda."

On another note, this particular sitting had the PCs and Greens questioning whether it would be the last before a provincial election.

• P.E.I. premier says there will be no spring election

Though MacLauchlandidn't confirm an official date for Islanders to go to the polls he echoed his original point regarding the budget thatgovernment still has "work to do" particularly regarding things like proposedhousing and poverty reduction strategies.

Aylward, PCs celebrate private member's bills

James Aylward, the leader of the province's Progressive Conservatives, said a "major accomplishment" of the spring session would be the number of private member's bills the PC caucus brought to the floor that were successfully passed.

"It's very significant when an Opposition party is not just opposing but actually proposing," Aylward said."It shows that we're listening to Islanders and that we're there to support Islanders."

According to Legislative Assembly clerk assistant Emily Doiron, the fall and spring sittings combined for the most private member's billsintroduced (16)and most bills to receive Royal Assent (five)since at least 1997.

Not all of those bills introduced and passed were by the PCs, however.

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One of the bills introduced by the PCs that Aylward pointed to providespaid leave for survivors of domestic violence. Another of those billswould provide support through Workers Compensation to any Island worker suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The third bill he highlighted asked government to open upCrown lending agency Island Investment Development Inc.to allow all Islanders to apply for a seat on the board.

"Up until now the only people that would sit on that board were appointed by government," he said. "Now we have a bill in place where Islanders can put their name forward also to sit on that board."

Bevan-Baker, Greens ride high in the polls

The spring session ended in a heated debate for Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker, challenging referendum legislation over a period of days.

On Tuesday, the referendum bill which will set the stage for an electoral reform referendum in conjunction with the next provincial election passed in legislature.

"I think we went from a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation to something that may be workable," he said.

"There's that old phrase about you know you wouldn't want to see legislation being made in the same way you wouldn't want to see sausages being made.That was a particularly large and nasty sausage."

What came out of the debatehas made the bill "enormously better," he said.

Support for both the Green leader and his party wereat a high as well,according to a poll byCorporate Research Associates.

• Liberal support drops to lowest level since the 2015 election, according to poll

While Bevan-Bakersaid he's cautious about poll suggestions, he said it's a motivating note for the Greens.

"I hope that the comfort that people are clearly feeling with a third choice, which is embodied in myself and Hannah Bell at the moment, will be carried forward to the next election," he said.

"I always talk about the Green Party as in the race of the tortoise and the hare. We're the tortoise, we do things methodically and make sure that we're doing it right."

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