Here are the candidates running in Malpeque

Malpeque is the riding covering the rural, central area of P.E.I.

It extends the full width of the province, from North Shore to South Shore, to the outskirts of Summerside at its western end and to the far side of Charlottetown in the east. It excludes Charlottetown itself, which is its own riding.

While the riding has a strong rural character, with significant farming and fishing communities, it also contains a large number of constituents who live in the country and work in Charlottetown or Summerside, as well as Cornwall, which is the Island's fourth largest urban centre.

Tourism also plays a major role in the riding's economy.

Anna Keenan, Green Party

This is Anna Keenan's second run at the Malpequeriding.

In 2019, she tripled the number of votes the party earned, as compared to 2015, and edged out the Conservative candidate for second place in the election.

Keenan is a communications consultant, with a focus on climate change. She has worked for the Australian Conservation Foundation, for Avaaz in Europe during the lead-up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, and for Greenpeace as a climate and energy campaigner.

She lives in St. Ann.

Heath MacDonald, Liberal Party

Heath MacDonald is a former provincial cabinet minister.

He was first elected in 2015, and was re-elected in 2019. As a member of Premier Wade MacLauchlan's government he served as minister of economic development and tourism as well as finance minister. He is currently third party house leader.

Before becoming an MLA, MacDonald worked as a consultant with a focus on tourism, including time as executive director of Quality Tourism Services.

He lives in Cornwall.

Michelle Neill, NDP

Michelle Neillis on leave from her job with the Canada Revenue Agency and her position ofAtlantic director for persons with disabilities for the Public Service Alliance of Canada so she can run in the election.

She's been involved with the union for the last 25 years, lobbying the government on issues such as affordable child care, national pharmacare and dental care. She's also an active volunteer in her community.

Neill lives in Oyster Bed Bridge.

Jody Sanderson, Conservative Party

Jody Sanderson was born on P.E.I. and raised on the family farm in York Point.

Sanderson had a 22-year career in banking with HSBC, working in Canada, Asia, and the Middle East. He returned to P.E.I. to raise his family and founded Sanderson Consulting, an investment consultancy.

Sanderson is also a triathlete who has competed in several Ironman World Championships.

He lives in York Point.

People's Party of Canada

Chris Landry is the candidate for Malpeque. No photo had been madeavailable on the People's Party of Canada site by Sept. 15.

His biography on the party's website says he"is an ordinary everyday Canadian. He's a father, tradesman and hard- working man that knows how to balance obstacles of life ...I want to make the small voices heard in Ottawa."

In a public post on his Facebook page, Landry announced he would not participate in any interviews with CBC News, calling the public broadcaster "leftist propaganda."

Electoral history

Malpeque has been held by the Liberal Party since 1988.

Since 1993 it has been represented by Wayne Easter, but Easter is not reoffering in this election.

Easter won nine straight elections in the riding, most recently in 2019. Easter won his smallest share of the vote ever in that election, with 41.4 per cent, but it was not his smallest margin of victory. That came in 2011, when Conservative Tim Ogilvie came within 700 votes of winning.

The 2019 election was unique in that it featured a strong showing from three candidates, with both the Greens and the Conservatives earning a better than 25 per cent share of the vote.

Other ridings on P.E.I.

• Egmont
• Charlottetown
• Cardigan