Debate gets fiery as Greens call for vote of non-confidence in PC government

PEI's Green Party has moved a motion of non-confidence in Premier Rob Lance and his PC government. It didn't go to a vote today. It is highly likely that it will be defeated. But if MLAs vote in favour of it, it would trigger an election, sending Islanders to the polls. Wayne Thibodeau is at the PEI legislature and has more details tonight. So, Wayne, what was the reaction when that motion was introduced by the Green Party today? Well, Louise, this is it. Motion number 94, the Green Party's motion moved by leader Matt MacFarlane, saying the House has no confidence in Premier Rob Lantz and his PC government. Now, as you mentioned, if passed, it would trigger election before Christmastime. It also touched off a fiery debate in the legislature that just wrapped up moments ago. It's beyond laughable. It's beyond belief. And I will say it's disrespectful to this House. I'm a little nervous I might get a little too hot under the collar and say something that's unparliamentary. It's just, it's beyond ludicrous, Mr. Speaker, beyond ludicrous. It's attacking me. It's attacking me. I've put my farm on hold to represent the people in my district. Now, there's been no vote and the Greens don't have any more time till next week. So that probably won't happen till sometime next week. But with that big PC majority, it's not likely to pass. Now, I did ask Green Party leader Matt MacFarlane why he moved the motion of non-confidence given the numbers in the House. He says he knows the numbers all too well, but he's hoping that MLAs will vote with their conscience. He says he has a number of Islanders reaching out to them, saying they want a say in who's leading the province. Adding that Lance has been premier now for almost two years, but doesn't have a mandate from Islanders. It's not playing politics to bring forward concerns we hear from Islanders. This is a serious motion. I did not bring this motion lightly, and I'm really hoping that all MLAs... Do some reflection on what they think is best for the province right now. It's really unheard of to go almost two years with a premier who was handpicked by a premier who was leaving. And, you know, the right thing to have done would have been to call an election very quickly. So, Wayne, what's the Liberals take on all this? Yeah, well, the Liberal leader, Dan Kuecher, says that the Greens are playing politics. Now, the Liberals have also called for an early election, but he says it'll be the PCs, not the opposition, that'll call the election. This is sort of political gamesmanship that I think Islanders are a little tired of, to be honest. When I'm out speaking to Islanders, they're telling me they're looking for an opposition to hold this government to account on the things that matter to them. Now, I'd hope to speak with Premier Rob Lantz about this, but he left before the debate finished. He didn't speak to the motion, but he's expected to do that next week. All right, Wayne, before I let you go, just quickly, has this ever happened before? Yeah, well, it's extremely rare, but if we go back to the 1960s, there was a non-confidence motion, but it was defeated by just one vote. But I should point this out, Louise, there are signs of an election. If you look at the PC's social media campaign, they've launched a new slogan, maybe an election slogan, calling 'Count on Us'. We're also seeing the opposition parties, their fundraising, and their nominating candidates. So we're getting close to an election season, whenever that may be. Oh, boy. All right, Wayne, thank you so much. That's Wayne Thibodeau reporting from the PEI Legislature.