5 things to watch for during spring sitting of P.E.I. Legislature

The spring sitting of the P.E.I. Legislature gets underway Tuesday, April 4.

Wade MacLauchlan's government is somewhere near the mid-point of its four-year mandate, depending on the timing of the next election.

Here are five things to watch for as MLAs gather for this sitting:

1. A balanced budget (but you've heard that before)

It's been ten years now since former finance minister Wes Sheridan told Islanders that budget balance would be achieved "in the near future."

In the 2015 election campaign Wade MacLauchlan said his administration would balance the budget in the spring of 2016.

• P.E.I. budget misses balanced target in 2016-17
• Projected P.E.I. deficit almost doubles

When the spring 2016 budget was tabled, balance was put off for another year.

So here we are in the spring of 2017 and it appears this might be it. The province took a huge hit to its deficit for the fiscal year that just ended when the feds came looking for about $30 million in HST overpayments.

According to Ottawa, P.E.I. could have opted to make up the difference over the next three years. It doesn't appear as if the province has opted for the "time payment plan" option to make up the difference, which would have made it more difficult to balance those future budgets.

As it stands the province has estimated the deficit for the fiscal year just ended has grown to $18.9 million, up from the original projection of $9.6 million.

2. School review debate

Whether or not the Public Schools Branch board of directors recommends any school closures after the review process that began last September, MLAs from the two opposition parties say there needs to be a debate around that process itself.

• 5 school closures recommended in P.E.I. report on public schools
• Public Schools Branch to make decisions on school closure, rezoning recommendations

"What we've put parents and teachers through has caused a lot of anxiety and turmoil," said Opposition leader Jamie Fox. "This process that the premier implemented was flawed from the start. We should have engaged Islanders on the actual review process and how it could have been handled."

If the board recommends schools for closure, expect that issue to dominate the early part of the spring sitting. Cabinet approval would still be required in order for schools to close.

3. Water Act debate

Both opposition parties said they expect a key piece of government legislation to undergo scrutiny during this sitting. Last month, government published a draft of a new provincial Water Act. Public meetings being held this week are just the latest part of a consultation process that began back in 2014.

• New Water Act would ban water exports

One point of contention with the legislation thus far it doesn't address the issue of government lifting a moratorium on allowing more high-capacity wells for irrigation, the issue that got this process started in the first place.

Government says that issue will be dealt with in regulations rather than within the Water Act itself.

4. 2 new cabinet ministers

Back in February Wade MacLauchlan shuffled his cabinet, growing it by one more position to 11 the largest cabinet allowed under provincial legislation. Richard Brown was replaced as Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning by Sonny Gallant. Brown takes over as Government House Leader.

• P.E.I. cabinet shuffle: Sonny Gallant and Pat Murphy in, Richard Brown out

In that shuffle Pat Murphy was named to a new cabinet portfolio, Minister of Regional and Rural Development.

There won't be a full ministry to support Murphy in his work. Whether he gets any additional resources to carry out his mandate beyond what government has devoted to rural development in the past will be revealed in the spring budget.

It's not entirely clear yet exactly what Murphy's mandate is. No mandate letter has yet been posted online for his portfolio, as it has been for the rest of cabinet, including MacLauchlan's mandate letter to himself.

5. Private member's bill to lower the voting age

Green Party leader Peter Bevan-Baker said he plans to introduce a private member's bill to lower the provincial voting age to 16.

"It's sort of a follow-up to the plebiscite," where 16- and 17-year-olds were allowed to vote for the first time on P.E.I., Bevan-Baker said.

"I just think it's a good time to bring it up here, to engage youth in the electoral process as early as possible, before they become disillusioned and cynical."

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