TIGNISH, P.E.I. —
TIGNISH, P.E.I. - Voters like Carole Chiasson are likely making members of Wade MacLauchlan’s Liberal campaign team sweat.
Reached at the Tignish Co-op grocery store, Chiasson brought up recent events in Ottawa.
“I'm not a big fan of Mr. Trudeau," Chiasson said. "He's forcing his lifestyle on everybody. I wanted to hire people, but in order to hire people with a government grant, I had to say that my Christian beliefs are on the back-burner."
Chiasson, who works with a non-profit group, was referring to contentious wording in a federal summer jobs funding program that required organizations to declare themselves supportive of abortion rights. The requirement was dropped last December.
But Chiasson is still deciding who to vote for in the coming provincial election. She conceded that Liberals in P.E.I. were different from those of Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party.
But she is not alone amongst voters who are feeling antipathy towards Trudeau. Several P.E.I. Liberal insiders recently told the Canadian Press they have avoided requesting a visit from Trudeau in the lead-up to the election.
Trudeau has faced questions about whether his office politically interfered in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, a Quebec-based engineering firm. SNC-Lavalin is facing charges related to alleged bribery of officials in Libya.
But in Tignish-Palmer Road, a district where voters are overwhelmingly Catholic, social concerns also loom large. A significant number of voters identify as pro-life. Many believe abortion access, largely unavailable on P.E.I. prior to 2016, is now too freely available.
Hal Perry, the incumbent MLA, has won the district in the last two elections – once while running as a Liberal in 2015 and once as a Progressive Conservative in 2011. He won by a 668-vote margin in 2015 and is well known for volunteer work in the community. He has often put members of his own caucus on the spot about local issues during question period.
He is facing off against Progressive Conservative candidate Melissa Handrahan, Green candidate Sean Doyle and NDP candidate Dale Ryan.
Handrahan said she has been encountering frustration with Trudeau from voters.
"It's such an anti-Trudeau environment that I don't think anybody can think anything past that because a lot of people are confusing Trudeau with Wade MacLauchlan too. They don't know which election they're voting at," Handrahan told The Guardian. "We can't really blame people because everybody's busy in their own life and it's very hard to understand in politics what is what.”
Perry acknowledges that voters have been bringing up Trudeau at the doors. But he says voters he talks to are not concerned with the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
"When I push back, they don't really say specifically. I think it's just they say they don't like [Trudeau]" Perry said.
Perry said most who fixate on Trudeau are usually not voters who would consider voting Liberal. He also said he has been seeing more overt support for his campaign than previous elections.
Handrahan, who is eight months pregnant, said she decided to run in the area because nobody else in conservative circles would.
“Literally, everybody's scared of Hal," she said.
Handrahan’s decision to run also stems from her husband’s recent battle with addiction, for which he sought treatment off-Island. Handrahan began speaking about mental health and addiction locally. She found many in the community had undergone similar experiences.
She said she is running in order to be an advocate for mental health services that are appropriate to the community and to “get out and speak the truth.”
The Mississauga-born woman has been around Conservative politics for over a decade. She served as communications director for newly elected Alberta premier-designate Jason Kenney while he was Stephen Harper’s minister of immigration. She described Kenney as a mentor.
“I spent a lot of time with Jason. I think a lot of my political views and opinions actually stem from him," Handrahan said. "He also told me not to be afraid to be pro-life, which a lot of politicians are scared to talk about."
Vote totals in Tignish-Palmer Road in 2015
- Liberal: 1,486
- PC: 818
- NDP: 81
- Green: 167
In videos posted on her Facebook page, Handrahan advocates axing the current carbon tax as well as ensuring rural P.E.I. has a stronger voice. The platform of her party contains no mention of doing away with the current carbon-pricing regime in P.E.I.
Handrahan said she has discussed her pro-life views with PC leader Dennis King. King has stated publicly that he is pro-choice and has indicated support for the Women’s Wellness Program in Summerside. He also told Handrahan he welcomed all viewpoints in the party.
"He's not turning away from his base that will help him to get elected,” Handrahan said.
Handrahan also described transgender confirmation surgery as “not a medically necessary procedure".
Perry, who identifies as pro-life, said the issue of abortion has been a constant in his riding.
"Abortion has always been an issue at the door here,” Perry said.
In 2016, facing the prospect of a charter challenge, the MacLauchlan government announced plans to allow abortion services at Prince County Hospital. Prior to this, Island women seeking to terminate a pregnancy had to travel off-Island.
"I think people are educated enough to know that this was a Supreme Court of Canada decision that was made back in the ’80s," Perry said. “They understand that part of it, they just don't agree with it.”
Green candidate Sean Doyle, who has worked as a teacher, says he believes social conservative voters will play less of a factor in this election compared to those in the past. However, he believes he may be drawing away former Liberal voters from Perry.
The Guardian accompanied Doyle while he was door-knocking last Monday. One voter, who asked that he not be identified by name, said he has been a Liberal supporter in the past. The man said he has been disappointed with the direction of the MacLauchlan government, and by the constituency work of several MLAs in Prince County.
“They’ve forgotten where they came from,” the man said.
Doyle said he has heard several voters raise the beleaguered government of Justin Trudeau at the doors. But he said most people are concerned about more immediate issues, such as health-care wait times and the shortage of doctors.
“We’ve been kind of getting the short end of the stick with regards to health care,” Doyle said.
Dale Ryan, the NDP candidate, worked as a truck driver for most of his professional life. He said the living conditions of seniors in the community are a major concern for him.
"If you don't have any money when you retire, you've had it because you barely get enough to scratch by on," Ryan said.
Stella Gaudet, a senior living in a government-owned housing complex, said she was concerned about the lack of repairs in her building. She also said she was concerned about the state of Western Hospital.
“We have a hospital in Alberton. We’re going to lose it, I’m afraid,” Gaudet said.
This is the last story in a series The Guardian has been publishing on district profiles and election issues up until April 22.
