P.E.I. Green Party wants official opposition status

There could be a shakeup coming to the political landscape of Prince Edward Island.

The P.E.I. Green Party has written a letter to the speaker of the legislature asking to be recognized as the official opposition ahead of the P.E.I. Liberals, who currently hold the job.

A byelection on Wednesday gave the Greens a third seat, tying for second most seats with the Liberals, but the Green Party captured a higher proportion of the popular vote in the last election.

“Our structures are really set up for a two party system, and so that was another reason we put that forward. Because we thought, just because things, we do things the way we’ve always done them doesn’t mean we have to,” said Karla Bernard, P.E.I. Green leader.

“We should look at making things a little different now that there’s a third party.”

Official opposition status comes with higher priority and more dollars for party coffers.

It’s the first time there has been a seat tie between opposition parties on P.E.I., however in other jurisdictions speakers have tended to favour the status quo.

Bernard said regardless of the speaker’s decision the Greens will remain strong critics of the governing Tories.

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