Heath MacDonald officially resigns as MLA to run in federal election

Heath MacDonald has officially resigned his seat as an MLA in the P.E.I. Legislature.

MacDonald is exiting provincial politicsto run as the Liberal candidate for Malpeque in the federal election. He'd been theMLA for Cornwall-Meadowbanksince being elected in 2015.

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MacDonald served as minister of tourism and economic developmentunder Wade MacLauchlan's Liberals and later became minister of finance. He was also third-party house leader from 2019 to 2021.

Premier Dennis King now has six months to call a byelection. He says he wants the new MLA to join the legislature this fall, and that the byelection could be called during a brief window after the federal vote but before the house sits.

As such, the byelection could take place as soon as Oct. 18.

MacDonald will be running to replace Liberal MP Wayne Easter, who's held the seat since 1993 but isn'tseeking re-election.

Anna Keenan and Jody Sanderson will also be running in the riding as the Green and Conservative candidates respectively.

The federal election will take place Sept. 20.

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