Candidates make their final speeches as Progressive Conservative Party chooses next leader, P.E.I. premier

P.E.I. PC leaders candidates lay on last crowd as campaign comes to a close

PC leadership candidates get heated during debate over land use on P.E.I.

2 candidates for P.E.I.’s Progressive Conservative leadership face off at forum

Ledwell is up first for candidate speeches. 

They played a video beforehand of his highlights criss-crossing the province and talking to people about issues like land holdings in eastern P.E.I., poor cellphone reception, health care and more.

He was introduced by a few speakers, including a fiery first-time voter saying Ledwell is the leader P.E.I. Needs, and he’s able to meet the moment. “If you believe in steady, competent leadership, if you believe in integrity in public life, if you believe in putting Prince Edward Island first, then stand with me. Stand with the future of our party and stand with Mark Ledwell.”

Party president Sydney Gallant opened the proceedings by thanking interim leader and current Premier Bloyce Thompson for his “steady hand” and leadership while the PCs looked for their permanent leader.

She also added that the party has grown to more than 7,400 members Island-wide and has its “strongest” membership in 15 years.

Talking to party officials, I now have a better picture of how this afternoon will unfold. 

Ledwell won a coin flip and will lead off the speeches just after 2 p.m. 

He’ll be followed by Lantz at around 2:30.

Ledwell is now in the building.

He told me there’s nothing more he can do now, saying he gave it his all and he’s just waiting to see what PC members decide this afternoon.

Lantz has arrived at the convention site. He’s been walking around shaking people’s hands. 

Earlier, musicians had been doing some sound checks and the room here is coloured with PC branding and signs all over the seats for Lantz and Ledwell. 

Lantz is heading upstairs to prepare for the candidate presentations, which we expect to start at 2:15 p.m. AT.

As a reporter, there are some things that make you go “huh?” in P.E.I. Politics, and it’s usually when what you expect to happen doesn’t.

What I’m talking about here is a provincial election — or, actually, a possible lack of one.

King and his PCs formed government in 2023 with a mandate from voters to implement its promises under his leadership. When a premier resigns, there are a lot of moving pieces and questions about what comes next, as you can expect.

Islanders involved in politics had expected that once the PCs had chosen their new leader, a provincial election would naturally follow to gather a new mandate from voters.

But last week neither Lantz nor Ledwell firmly committed to calling a spring election. They’ve softened their language around that since then, though, with both hinting that they might drop the writ.

All we know so far is that If Lantz wins, he does plan to carry out the King mandate from 2023 for some time, telling our Island Morning host Mitch Cormier a week ago that an election is “not necessary.” Ledwell said very much the same. If he wins the leadership, that would mean the premier wouldn’t have a seat in the legislature, and neither would Liberal Leader Robert Mitchell.

The PC convention is scheduled to basically begin and end within a two-hour window.

These things can, and often do, start late and run long, but we’ll see how it all unfolds. 

Here’s what the afternoon looks like:

Party president Syndey Gallant will run the proceedings. We’ll have some updates throughout the afternoon, and our Wayne Thibodeau is there to provide more details.

2 candidates for P.E.I.’s Progressive Conservative leadership face off at forum

There have been three leadership forums ahead of today’s convention. If you had your finger on the P.E.I. News pulse, the issues that came up shouldn’t surprise you.

Health-care delivery was a priority at the forum in Summerside — a city with ongoing concerns about the state of Prince County Hospital.

At the eastern P.E.I. Forum, land use and the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission dominated the evening and led to several fiery exchanges between Lantz and Ledwell. The people in Three Rivers have had questions over how much land is owned by Buddhist groups in the area, how it's been paid for (and by whom), and how the provincial government has dealt with this boiling issue so far.

Ledwell had also criticized Lantz, saying he used the premier’s office as leverage for his leadership campaign and having cabinet ministers advocate for him instead of doing their work.

In the final forum in Charlottetown, educators protested outside the room saying the school system is in crisis and students are struggling. The candidates didn’t address it during the forum.

Typically on P.E.I., interim party leaders hold the post until a new — and different — leader is chosen. This hasn’t been a typical leadership run.

The long and short after Lantz became premier is: Housing Minister Cory Deagle resigned from cabinet to run for the leadership; Lantz said he would go for leadership, then said he wouldn’t, and eventually changed his mind again; Deagle dropped out of the race, jumped back into cabinet and later supported Lantz; all while Mark Ledwell persistently campaigned for the position. Lantz formally declared before Christmas and the party selected a convention date. Justice Minister Bloyce Thompson took over as premier in the meantime, and here we are. 

Three premiers later, a twisting and turning year of P.E.I. Politics comes down to this. 

If you’d asked the everyday Islander just over a year ago, they probably wouldn’t have seen this coming.

Former PC leader and premier Dennis King led the party to a commanding 22 of 27 seats in the spring 2023 election. In February 2025, less than two years into that mandate, King shocked the Island’s political realm with his resignation. 

Lantz took over as the party’s interim leader and was sworn in as premier the next day. So why isn’t he still premier? Well, the elephant in the room was always the “interim” part.

The Liberals and Greens poked at that “interim” leader title constantly inside and outside of the legislature, and the natural question to the PCs was when it would have a leadership convention to choose a permanent leader.

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