Nov. 2 byelection called to fill seat in District 10, Charlottetown-Winsloe

A provincial byelection will be held on Nov.2 to fill the empty seat in District 10Charlottetown-Winsloe.

Premier Dennis King announced the date on Tuesday.

"This morning, members of Cabinet met and passed an Order in Council to allow Elections PEI to issue the writ for the District 10 by-election. The order is effective today, which means that residents of CharlottetownWinsloe will be heading to the polls on Monday, November 2nd," said a statement issued by King.

The district was formerly held by Liberal Robert Mitchell, who last month said he was leaving politics after representing the area for 13 years.

Mitchell had served as interim Liberal leader in 2019 after former premier Wade MacLauchlan lost in the provincial election.

"When Robert Mitchell called me on the third of September to say he was resigning, I knew it was my job to begin the process to work towards a process to replace him," said King, who has pushed to fill the vacant seat as soon as possible.

"I think the fact that we've turned around a process in a relatively short time in a period of a worldwide health pandemic has been a huge undertaking, but I'm glad we're here."

The candidates so far:

• Zac Murphy, a financial adviser, will be the Liberal candidate running to keep the seat for the party.
• Writer, social activist and former teacher Lynne Thiele is the NDP candidate.
• Former radio personality Zack Bell will represent the Progressive Conservatives; he won the nomination in the only contested race among the parties.

The Greens have not yet nominated a candidate but thenomination meeting will be held Tuesday evening. Businessperson Chris van Ouwerkerk is the only known contender for the nomination.

"The difficult part of this business is nothing you really do in life preparesyou for when you're actually in the pool swimming around as an MLA," said King.

"I think they can watch, they've probably observed over the last little while how things are conducted within the legislature, but nothing can replace being in there and getting ready for it."

Will seat count change?

King's Progressive Conservative government is in a minority position with 13 seats in the 27-seat legislature.

The Greens hold eight seats, the Liberals hold five (six before Mitchell resigned), and the NDP have none.

If the PCs managed to win the byelection, King's government would have a majority of one.

The legislature is set to resume sitting around Nov. 12.

COVID-19 precautions to be taken

King had previously saidtalks were underway with Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison about the most responsible way to hold a byelection in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We need to make sure that people feel a level of safety to get out and exercise their franchise in District 10, so it's important that Dr. Morrison and her staff be involved," he told CBC News in mid-September.

A news release issued by P.E.I. Chief Electoral Officer Tim Garrity on Tuesday echoed those concerns.

"This election will be like no other Elections PEI has administered in the past due to health concerns as a result of COVID-19," it said.

Voters who prefer to vote remotely can apply for amail-in ballot at www.electionspei.ca before6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, the news release added.

Advance voting will take place from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct.24; Monday, Oct. 26and Friday, Oct.30. The same voting hours will apply on the day of the byelection as well.

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