Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island

The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island (French: Assemblée législative de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard) is the deliberative assembly of the government of the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada. The General Assembly meets at Province House, which is located at the intersection of Richmond and Great George Streets in Charlottetown. Bills passed by the Assembly are given royal assent by the Queen of Canada in Right of Prince Edward Island, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island.[1]

Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island

Assemblée législative de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard
66th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Type
Type
History
Founded1893 (1893)
Preceded byBicameral:
- Legislative Council
- House of Assembly
Leadership
Structure
Seats27
Political groups
Government
  •   Progressive Conservative (14)

Official Opposition:

Other parties:

Elections
Last election
April 23, 2019
Next election
TBD
Meeting place
Province House, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
(Meeting at the adjacent Hon. George Coles Building during restoration)
Website
www.assembly.pe.ca

History

As a colony, Prince Edward Island originally had a bicameral legislature founded in 1773 with the Legislative Council of Prince Edward Island serving as the upper house and the House of Assembly as the lower house. Together they composed the 1st General Assembly of the Island of Saint John. After the name of the colony changed in 1798, the body became known as the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island.

In 1769, a British Order in Council established a new government on the British colony of St. John's Island (present day P.E.I.). In 1770, Lieutenant Governor Walter Patterson (the island's first Governor) arrived and appointed a Council to assist him in the administration of the island. By 1773, at the insistence of the British government, Governor Patterson summoned the island's first assembly.

Elections for the island's first House of Assembly were held on July 4, 1773, with 18 members being elected. Tradition has it that the first session of the island's new assembly was held in the Crossed Keys Tavern on the corner of Queen and Dorchester Streets in Charlottetown; however, a journal entry contradicts this and indicates that it was actually held in the home of James Richardson.

In 1839, an important distinction was drawn between the executive and legislative capacities of the Legislative Council. This distinction proved to be an important step on the road to responsible government which was finally implemented in 1851.

Prior to 1893, Prince Edward Island had a bicameral system of government, consisting of a Legislative Council and a House of Assembly. These two bodies were amalgamated in 1893 to create one Legislative Assembly consisting of 30 members elected from 15 different constituencies. Each constituency returned a Councillor and an Assemblyman to the Assembly. The only change to this system of returning members to the assembly was the addition of two Members resulting from the creation of 6th Queens in 1966. In 1996, the system and the electoral map were restructured, and the province now has twenty-seven Members of the Legislative Assembly, each elected from a different constituency.

In 2015, Province House was closed for repairs and conservation work. The legislature moved to the adjacent Hon. George Coles Building, where it is expected to remain for several years.[2]

Composition

The Legislative Assembly currently has 27 single-member districts and is currently the smallest provincial assembly in Canada.

Prior to the 1996 provincial election, the province was divided into 16 dual-member districts, each of which was represented by one member who held the title Assemblyman and one member who held the title Councillor. This was a holdover from the legislature's historic bicameral structure; instead of simply abolishing its upper house as most Canadian provinces with historically bicameral legislatures did, Prince Edward Island merged the two houses in 1893. Although both members sat in the same legislative house, all voters in a district voted for the assemblyman while only landowners could vote for the councillor. Excepting the division of 5th Queens, the district that contained the capital city of Charlottetown, into two districts in 1966, these district boundaries were never adjusted for demographic or population changes.

The property qualification was discontinued in 1963, largely eliminating any practical distinction between the two roles, although the nominal titles continued to be used until the current single-member districts were introduced in 1996.

Members of the 66th General Assembly

Cabinet ministers are in bold, party leaders are in italic, and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is designated by a cross (†).

Name Party District
  Colin LaVie Progressive Conservative Souris-Elmira
  Steven Myers Progressive Conservative Georgetown-Pownal
  Cory Deagle Progressive Conservative Montague-Kilmuir
  Darlene Compton Progressive Conservative Belfast-Murray River
  Michele Beaton Green Mermaid-Stratford
  James Aylward Progressive Conservative Stratford-Keppoch
  Sidney MacEwen Progressive Conservative Morell-Donagh
  Bloyce Thompson Progressive Conservative Stanhope-Marshfield
  Natalie Jameson Progressive Conservative Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park
  Robert Mitchell
(until September 3, 2020)
Liberal Charlottetown-Winsloe
  Zack Bell
(from November 2, 2020)
Progressive Conservative
  Hannah Bell Green Charlottetown-Belvedere
  Karla Bernard Green Charlottetown-Victoria Park
  Ole Hammarlund Green Charlottetown-Brighton
  Gord McNeilly Liberal Charlottetown-West Royalty
  Dennis King Progressive Conservative Brackley-Hunter River
  Heath MacDonald Liberal Cornwall-Meadowbank
  Peter Bevan-Baker Green New Haven-Rocky Point
  Brad Trivers Progressive Conservative Rustico-Emerald
  Jamie Fox Progressive Conservative Borden-Kinkora
  Matthew MacKay Progressive Conservative Kensington-Malpeque
  Lynne Lund Green Summerside-Wilmot
  Steve Howard Green Summerside-South Drive
  Trish Altass Green Tyne Valley-Sherbrooke
  Sonny Gallant Liberal Evangeline-Miscouche
  Robert Henderson Liberal O'Leary-Inverness
  Ernie Hudson Progressive Conservative Alberton-Bloomfield
  Hal Perry Liberal Tignish-Palmer Road

Seating plan

Hudson Trivers MacKay Thompson Jameson Deagle
Myers Aylward Compton KING MacEwen Fox
LaVie
Beaton Bell Bernard BEVAN-BAKER GALLANT MacDonald Bell
Altass Hammarlund Lund Howard Perry McNeilly Henderson

Party standings

Standings in the 66th Prince Edward Island Legislature
Affiliation Members
2019 Election
Results
As of 2 November 2020
  Progressive Conservative 13 14
  Green 8
  Liberal 6 5
Total members 27 27
 Total 27
 Government Majority –1 1

Officers

The legislature Black Rod has been carried by the Sergeant-at-Arms since 2000.[3]

See also

References

  1. Legislative Assembly Act, RSPEI 1988, c. L-7, s. 1(1)
  2. "Visitor Information". Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 2017-02-20. The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island is located in the Hon. George Coles Building at 175 Richmond Street in Charlottetown…Beginning January 1, 2015, Province House National Historic Site will be closed for 3-5 years for extensive conservation work.
  3. http://www.assembly.pe.ca/index.php?number=1029047
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