Prince Edward Island does have fixed election legislation setting the next voting date as Oct. 2, 2023, but King exercised his right as premier to trigger it early.

King later defended that decision when talking to reporters. 

"It's four years; it's time to have an election," he said. "There's uncertainty in the future and Islanders should have a say in that." 

King added that there is a chance of a federal election later in the year, given that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is leading a minority government. "There's uncertainty in Ottawa," he said. "There could be a fall election. Part of the reason our election was moved [is] because the election dates in Ottawa."

"It's four years; it's time to have an election," PC Leader Dennis King says. "There's uncertainty in the future and Islanders should have a say in that." (Cody MacKay/CBC)

The P.C. leader, who had held the premier's job since 2019, said he went to see Lt.-Gov Antoinette Perry on Monday morning to kickstart the election.

Who is running so far?

Shortly after King spoke, Elections P.E.I. issued a news release about the provincial vote to be held in four weeks' time, saying advance polls would take place on March 25, 27 and 31 from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.

As of Monday evening, the Progressive Conservatives were the only party to have a full slate of 27 candidates nominated and ready to run.

The other parties are planning more nomination meetings in the coming days.

Here is the breakdown so far of how many people have declared their intention to run for each of the other major parties (nominated or soon-to-be-nominated):

• The Greens under Peter Bevan-Baker have 14 of 27. 
• The Liberals led by Sharon Cameron have 19 of 27.
• The NDP under Michelle Neill have 13 of 27.

Greens 'feeling really excited'

Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker, whose party has formed the Official Opposition since 2019, said he would have preferred that King stick to the fixed election date of Oct. 2.

"It's not the right time for Islanders, and I also think it's not the right time for democracy," he said. "When you call a snap election like this, it creates such an imbalance between the ruling party … and the rest of us."

P.E.I. Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker says his party is confirming a candidate slate that's 'second to none' for this campaign. (Rick Gibbs/CBC)

Given that, he's excited about his party's possibilities going into the April 3 election.

"We have a platform we've been working on for a very long time. We just nominated this evening two more candidates, so we continue to build a slate of candidates across this province," he said.

"The quality of the folks who are coming forward is second to none and I'm just feeling really excited and really optimistic about the next month."

Liberals, NDP criticize snap call

A spring election has been "the worst kept secret on P.E.I.," said Liberal Leader Sharon Cameron.

"The announcement is as heartbreaking as it is discouraging," she said. "We've always been very vocal about the snap election date."

Sharon Cameron, leader of the Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island, said her primary goal going into this campaign is addressing health care. (Brian Higgins/CBC)

Cameron said her primary goal going into this election is addressing health care, adding that the party has a strong, diverse set of candidates with more being announced by the day.

NDP candidate Herb Dickieson spoke on behalf of his party, saying not following the fixed election date amounts to "broken promise" for the PC campaign as it starts off.

"When governments attempt to deceive the people, they sometimes regret it," Dickieson said.

As for the party's priorities going into the election, he said the party has health care top of mind and they plans on running a full slate of 27 candidates.

The NDP under leader Michelle Neill had about half of their candidates confirmed as of Monday night, including former MLA Herb Dickieson. (CBC)

"Michelle Neill has a better deal for Islanders and that's our slogan and we have a very good platform to back it up with," he said. "We're looking with great anticipation for much better results [than 2019] and what we're going to see … is that New Democrats will be elected in the Island legislature."

The Island Party has also announced it plans to field candidates in the race, and has registered with Elections P.E.I. A recent news release said it will call for "responsible and transparent government." 

The issues heading in 

There will likely be more focused debate on hot-button issues this time around. Back in 2019, the province had a full slate of topics of concern, of course, but there was also a referendum on proportional representation tied to the vote.

This time, expect to see some of the same issues debated in 2019 return in an even more pressing manner, including:

• Health care and doctor shortages.
• Housing and homelessness.
• Inflation, poverty, wages and the economy. 
• Environment, climate change and shoreline protection.

Health care and doctor shortages are issues thataffect most Islanders, with more than 28,000 people and counting onthe P.E.I. patient registry. Combine that witha shortage of doctors in many parts of the province, leading to hospital closures in rural parts of P.E.I. and extremely crunched ERs at both Summerside's Prince County Hospital and Charlottetown's Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Also in the health care file is the COVID-19 pandemic that has dominated global attention since the winter of 2020 and is still claiming lives on P.E.I. 

Shortly after the election was triggered on Monday night, Elections P.E.I. released this photo of CEO Tim Garrity signing the writ of election for a provincial vote to be held on April 3. The agency said advance polls will take place on March 25, 27 and 31 from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. (Submitted by Elections P.E.I.)

Housing and homelessness are an all-party priority heading into this election. On housing, increasing rents and a desperately short supply of units have squeezed the tenant population, with rising house prices pushing ownership out of reach for many Islanders. At the same time, more people have been living in tents, on couches, in cars, or at outreach centres and emergency shelters — likethe one that opened in Charlottetown last December.

Inflation has drained the resources of Islanders on nearly every bill, particularly when it comes to grocery shopping and buying gas and home heating fuel.Rent andmortgage rates are also way up, squeezing the budgets and putting more people on the poverty line. Use of food banks is at a historic high, with more and more rural populations installing community fridges to help their neighbours.

In some ways, major storms bookended the last four years of governance, with post-tropical storm Dorian in 2019 andpost-tropical storm Fiona in 2022 mercilessly pummelling Prince Edward Island. The unprecedented became precedented as all levels ofgovernment raced to rework and reinforce their climate change policies.

Elections P.E.I. has sent out voter information cards across the province ahead of the spring election, and is encouraging Islanders to make sure their information is up to date.

For more on how to do that,visit the Elections P.E.I. website.

The short answer is, because Dennis King wants one now.

Since Confederation it has been the prerogative of premiers and prime ministers to call elections when they deemed it was time to do so. This frequently led to cries of foul, when leaders moved to call elections when they appeared to have an advantage, or delayed calls to avoid what seemed to be certain defeat.

Over the last couple of decades there has been some effort at change.

British Columbia introduced the idea of fixing election dates in 2001, but the idea didn't catch on immediately. After dates were fixed federally in 2007 more provinces jumped on board. By the end of 2008 most provinces had fixed dates, and with their introduction in Nova Scotia in 2021 all the provinces now have legislation in place.

But in terms of election dates, "fixed" is a relative term. This is the fourth election for P.E.I. since the Election Act was amended in May 2008, and only the first of those, in 2011, was held on the first Monday in October — that would be Oct. 2 this year — as spelled out in the legislation. The other three were held in the spring.

So what gives? Why were Wade MacLauchlan and Dennis King allowed to call spring elections when legislation sets the date in the fall?

The premier does not call the election

The answer is found in the first 11 words in the section of the Election Act that sets the fixed date.

• Nothing in this section affects the powers of the Lieutenant Governor.

When people say the premier has called an election that is not technically true. The word "premier" does not appear anywhere in the Election Act. It is the lieutenant-governor that dissolves the legislature and instructs the chief electoral officer to issue the writs of election. But under the convention of responsible government, the lieutenant-governor only acts on the advice of the premier.

So, that crucial clause could be read as

•  Nothing in this section affects the powers of the premier.

This clause at the beginning of the section that sets the date of election relegates it from an order to a suggestion.

Crying foul again

The introduction of fixed date elections has had little impact on the controversy it was meant to address.

Liberal Leader Sharon Cameron did not wait for the actual election call to complain about an early vote. Cameron issued a news release last month calling on the premier to wait in order to allow potential candidates, and in particular women, the time to get their affairs in order and free themselves up to run for office.

Meeting with reporters after his election call speech Monday night, Dennis King said this: 'It's four years; it's time to have an election. There's uncertainty in the future and Islanders should have a say in that... There's four members of our legislature who have indicated it's time for them to move on, and others have taken their place, and it's time for Islanders to have their say.' (Shane Hennessey/CBC)

The P.E.I. Coalition for Women in Government has also come out in support of fixed election dates.

King was asked about fixed election dates during the 2019 campaign, and he agreed with Cameron and the coalition.

During a leaders' forum on women's issues, King said fixed election dates make politics more inclusive and less partisan.

"To me, a fixed election date is something that we should actually set and stick to," said King.

"To become a candidate for a party, whether you're a woman or not, it's a difficult decision. It takes time. I've been asked in the last four or five different elections to be a candidate and you have a lot of things that you have to weigh in the balance. When all of the sudden you're weighing that and an election is pulled out of the air, it makes you either frightened or pushes you into a decision that you're not ready to make."

Prince Edward Islanders will vote in a general provincial election on April 3.

Ole Hammarlund, who represents District 13: Charlottetown-Brighton, lost the nomination in his district Monday evening to challenger Janice Harper.

A news release says Harper is a land use planner with 20 years of experience.

Hammarlund was first elected in 2019 and was the opposition critic for Transportation and Infrastructure.

"Ole brought a depth of experience to the legislature while also bringing a great sense of humour — something that can often be in short supply in politics. I want to thank Ole for his friendship and his service to Islanders," Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker said in an emailed statement.

"I encourage every Islander who believes they have something to offer to put forward their name when a call for nominations is issued. I appreciate the work and autonomy of the party membership to decide who they want to represent them. This democratic process is of key importance to the work of the Green Party of P.E.I."

Ole Hammarlund, who represents District 13: Charlottetown-Brighton, lost the nomination in his district Monday evening to challenger Janice Harper. A news release says Harper is a land use planner with 20 years of experience.

Hammarlund was first elected in 2019 and was the opposition critic for Transportation and Infrastructure.

"I actually wanted a contested nomination meeting," Hammarlund said. "I think that's the way to change guard. It should be, in this case, members of the party of the district that should make the decision."

Hammarlund praised Harper, saying she's "well-qualified and intelligent" and thinks voters maybe wanted to pass the torch on to a new candidate. CBC News reached out to Janice Harper for comment but she was unavailable to speak Tuesday.

He also said he was asked to step aside by the Green Party going into the nomination. 

"I rejected the notion, I thought that's not the way it should be. If somebody else wants to come in they should go through the motion and it should be the members that decide," he said. "I'm not for backroom dealings. I think people should vote."

Hammarlund added that he will not be running as an independent candidate.

'That's democracy at work,' Green leader says

Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker said the party encourages anyone to come forward and contest a nomination, as it's central to the party's "grassroots participation.

'I think it shows excitement around the Green Party … I look at this as an incredibly positive thing for our party,' says Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker. (Julien LeCacheur/Radio-Canada)

"If you feel you would be a good MLA, come forward and put your name [forward]. Whether there is a sitting MLA there or not. In this instance, we had a sitting MLA and somebody who felt that they'd be a good candidate," Bevan-Baker said.

"The membership decided last night that Janice would make a strong candidate, and she is now the candidate. That's democracy at work. I think it shows excitement around the Green Party.… I look at this as an incredibly positive thing for our party."

UPEI political scientist Don Desserud said it's "very rare" to see a sitting MLA be challenged for a nomination, let alone lose the nomination to the challenger.

UPEI political scientist Don Desserud said it's 'very rare' to see a sitting MLA be challenged. (Brian Higgins/CBC News)

Desserud isn't sure exactly why Hammarlund lost, but he did say Harper is a "star candidate" for the Greens heading into the election. Asked how it looks to see a sitting MLA fall in the nomination, Desserud said it may suggest higher engagement within the Green Party.

"It shows that there is a lot of interest in being a Green candidate," he said.

"The worst thing is when no one wants to come forward and to run. Challenging an incumbent is odd for sure … the fact that there was two people who wanted this [district] is at least an indication that people see the Green Party as having a future and they want to be a part of it."

But who is running and where? We have you covered on that.

We've put together a running list of the people who've put their name forward to run. People on this list are either already nominated or are seeking the party nomination to run in their respective district.

Typically on P.E.I., earning the nomination is a formality for most people who plan to run, but in some cases there's more than one contender — so a nomination vote has to happen to choose the party's candidate for a district.

Below are all the names of people who've come forward so far. If you're not on the list but plan to run, let us know by emailing cody.mackay@cbc.ca. 

This list will be updated weekdays during the day — so if you're curious about who is running where, it may be best to bookmark this page and come back as it'll have rolling updates.