Premier Dennis King and his Progressive Conservatives are now in full control of the legislative agenda at the PEI legislature with PC candidate Zack Bell winning the District 10 byelection on November 2, 2020.
As a result, the Progressive Conservatives hold 14 of the 27 seats in the legislature — enough for a slim majority. The King government was elected in the 2019 general election with 12 of the 27 seats. The party later picked up a seat when Natalie Jameson won the District 9 election. Jameson is currently the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Change, Minister responsible for the Status of Women and Minister responsible for Charlottetown.
As CPA Atlantic Committee members will recall, in an address at the CPA Atlantic Seminar in 2019, Premier King indicated that his government believes there is a role for low-emission propane in various applications in PEI.
To that end, the CPA has been in discussions with the government about the expanded use of propane for such applications as residential and commercial heating, transportation, agriculture, and fisheries. Discussions with government officials also involve incorporating propane applications throughout government itself such as propane school buses, new building construction, and refurbishment of existing government facilities.
The CPA also filed a submission to the Legislature’s Special Committee on Climate Change in August. In its comments, the CPA identified the economic and environmental advantages that come from the expanded use of propane.