P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz facing pressure to step down

A formal petition signed by some members of the P.E.I. Progressive Conservative Party is calling for a vote on Premier Rob Lantz’s leadership.

Lantz secured his position as party leader and premier following a leadership contest win in February over Mark Ledwell with 53.1 per cent of the vote.

Martie Murphy, a longtime member of the party, said the petition is currently signed by more than 120 members. She said some in the party have become discouraged.

“We feel like doing nothing is political demise because we’re not going to climb up in the polls with the leadership the way that it is,” she said.

“It’s really everybody. It’s a combination of rural, city. So it’s everybody that has a concern where the Island sits right now. The leadership is in question. They have lost the confidence from Islanders and party members.”

PC Party member Martie Murphy says the petition is currently signed by more than 120 party members. She says some in the party have become discouraged. (Steve Bruce/CBC)

The petition and resolution, sent to the party association, is asking for a special general meeting for voting on the issue to be held within the next 15 days.

Lantz would have an opportunity to speak at the meeting, and members would vote by secret ballot on whether they want him to step down. Then, it would be up to Lantz to decide next steps.

‘Weak public support’

The resolution notes concerns regarding financial responsibility as well as transparency and accountability, pointing to the province’s “rapidly escalating and unsustainable deficit,” and says there are “significant questions about the current leadership and its ability to responsibly manage the Province’s financial affairs.”

It goes on to state that the PC Party “continues to experience historically weak public support, with no meaningful improvement reflected in consecutive polls, demonstrating a growing loss of confidence not only among party members but across the electorate, placing the party’s future electoral viability and its ability to form government at serious risk.”

Lantz said he is aware the party has received the petition and he will “let the party work through that.” 

He added the party has more than 7,200 members and that, under its constitution, it takes 75 signatures to compel a leadership vote.

“That’s a pretty low bar. But in the meantime, I’m just focused on the work of government and the priorities of Islanders,” he said.

“Yes, this is a distraction, but I’m focused on the work that I was elected to do.”

P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz says he feels there is ‘a small number of people’ who never accepted the results of the leadership convention earlier this year. (Rick Gibbs/CBC)

Lantz said he feels there is “a small number of people” who never accepted the results of the leadership convention and they are “trying to compel a discussion.”

“It appears to me they just want to roll back the clock to reverse a democratic decision that was made by this party, but it is what it is,” he said. 

“We’ll go through this process, but then people are going to have to move on and focus on working for Islanders.”

PC Party president Robert Larsen confirmed via email the party received a petition requesting a special general meeting but did not say when such a meeting may happen or if a vote on Lantz’s leadership would occur.

He said the party is consulting legal counsel on what is now required under the party constitution.

Questions regarding Lantz’s leadership were brought up in the legislature during question period Tuesday, with Liberal Opposition Leader Hal Perry stating the province is facing “many serious challenges,” adding “it is so sad that the source of many of these difficulties is the provincial government.”

Liberal Opposition Leader Hal Perry said during question period that the province is facing ‘many serious challenges’ and pointed to the government as the source. (P.E.I. Legislative Assembly)

“Rather than leading with a clear vision and plan, this government stumbles from one mistake to another. Instead of substance, it’s photo-ops and Facebook rather than policy and pocketbooks,” Perry said.

“This province has not had the opportunity to endorse this premier or his plans and yet this premier is making incredibly long-term and potentially damaging decisions.”

Lantz responded to Perry that Islanders elected the Progressive Conservative government “with a strong majority” and that it is “delivering on that mandate every day.”

“Islanders want us focused on access to care, on the price at the pump, protecting jobs from tariffs, and that’s what we’re doing,” Lantz said. 

“They don’t want us focused on an election right now. We’re delivering on a mandate that we were given and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”