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CTV News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Two byelections put parties to the test in P.E.I.
Two P.E.I. byelections may signal which parties are gaining momentum and which are slipping after the first few months the interim premier has held power. Two byelections in P.E.I. ridings tested party strength on the Island. According to unofficial results, Liberal Carolyn Simpson will represent the P.E.I. riding of District 9, Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park, and Progressive Conservative (PC) Kent Dollar will represent the riding of District 15 Brackley-Hunter River as MLAs. It's been a year of turning tides in P.E.I. politics, with leadership changes for all three of the parties represented in the legislature. The PC majority is safe, but political scientists say results could signal who's building momentum, and who's slipping. 'These byelections, there could be wake-up calls for all parties,' says University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) political science professor Don Desserud. In District 9, Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park, the voting station was busy Tuesday morning. Some voters were hoping to flip the blue riding red. 'I wanted to put my vote in,' said Noelle Macdonald on her way out of the community centre. 'We're hoping for the Liberals!' The PC's Dennis Jameson was in the running to represent the capital. He benefited from name recognition: his wife, Natalie Jameson, held the seat before she left cabinet to run federally. Challenging him was the Liberals' Simpson, whose party is looking for someone to lead it. 'I voted for Carolyn today. I think that the wife went and voted for the Conservative, so we just knocked each other out,' said Lorne Cannon, laughing. Also on the ballot were the NDP's Simone Webster and the Greens' Janine Karpakis. The Green Party of P.E.I. elected Mattew MacFarlane as leader in June, while the PC's also have a new leader, Rob Lantz, who holds the role of premier on an interim basis. 'He stepped in at a very difficult time, and he's taking it on,' said Nora Hughes. 'For what he has to work with, he's doing a good job,' added William Bowerbank. Lantz got the top job after former premier Dennis King stepped down earlier this year. Before his resignation, King represented District 15, Brackley-Hunter River, where voters also braved the heat wave to hit the polls. Desserud said the race could send a message about how people feel about Lantz's first few months. 'There's been lots of talk about whether he would run, should run, could run for the permanent leadership,' he said. 'A really strong finish for the PC candidates, that would be seen as a really strong endorsement of Lantz's leadership.' Desserud adds that byelections are hard to predict, especially this one, because there has been no public data on voting intentions since late last year. Despite that, Elections PEI says there was high turnout in advance voting at just over 26 per cent. According to the unofficial results Wednesday morning at 8:45 a.m. AT, voter turnout in District 9 was 47.8 per cent, with 2,045 out of 4,400 electors casting ballots, and nearly 56 per cent in District 15, with 2,274 votes cast, 'It certainly wasn't the time of year,' said Ethan Garrett, Elections PEI returning officer. 'Most people are at the beach, so we have to look for something else.' That something else, he says, is a history of strong engagement and an interesting year.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
PC, Liberal candidates split 2 provincial byelections in P.E.I.
Byelections in two provincial districts ultimately had no effect on the balance of power in the P.E.I. Legislature. Liberal candidate Carolyn Simpson won District 9, solidifying the party's status as Official Opposition, while Kent Dollar's victory in District 15 adds a 20th seat to the Progressive Conservatives' majority. CBC's Cody MacKay has the details.
CBC
7 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
PC, Liberal candidates split 2 provincial byelections in P.E.I.
Byelections in two provincial districts ultimately had no effect on the balance of power in the P.E.I. Legislature. Liberal candidate Carolyn Simpson won District 9, solidifying the party's status as Official Opposition, while Kent Dollar's victory in District 15 adds a 20th seat to the Progressive Conservatives' majority. CBC's Cody MacKay has the details.
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
European Retailers' View Of U.S. Tariff Turmoil: This Too Shall Pass
On a recent visit, there was little of the hand-wringing and doomsaying expressed by many U.S. retailers. Are Americans overreacting? On a recent business trip to the U.K. and Eurozone, I was struck by the apparent nonchalance of retail industry executives there about the U.S. tariff crisis when, here at home, the headlines have been reporting the story in near-apocalyptic terms. Is Europe somehow insulated from the fallout, or is there something else going on that we Americans are missing? Here at home, Wall Street forecasters are signaling the likelihood of a recession, economists are predicting a new round of inflation plus layoffs, and the National Retail Federation has warned of a bloodbath for small businesses ('Record-high tariffs threaten the American Dream'). It is a theme that has clearly spooked investors and one that U.S. retailers have so taken to heart that they have rushed to fill their distribution centers ahead of time, and have been scrambling to find new sources. Some companies didn't even wait for the details of the new tariff policy. The day after the new administration was elected last November, Steve Madden, a fashion shoe brand, announced that it was shifting its product sourcing from China to Vietnam, Cambodia, Mexico, and Brazil. In contrast, most U.K. and European Union retail execs seem to view the squabble between the U.S., China, and its North American trading partners (Mexico and Canada) the way one might feel watching neighbors down the street who are engaged in a curbside shouting match over a property line or a parking spot. 'It's important to note that these are predictions and not guarantees,' according to Carolyn Simpson, an executive with Anglo Scottish Finance, which specializes in asset funding. As quoted in a recent report on Simpson observed, 'Self-reliance and the ability to adapt to change is the key to weathering any sudden change in the global economy. It's important to remember that changes will continue to evolve over the coming term and that the best the U.K. can do is continue to play fair and focus on growth that benefits all.' Absent the unthinkable—the view from abroad begs a broader question: Can the retail industry that survived the pandemic survive a tariff war? The obvious answer—of course it can. Compared to an as-yet unresolved shouting match over tariffs, what could be worse for our consumer economy than what we experienced starting five years ago—a nearly complete shutdown of commerce, the shutdown of Asia's workrooms and factories, plus a global supply chain logjam followed by an inventory glut and a huge surge in inflation? One of the conclusions that seems obvious from all of this is that American retailers and their customers have been spoiled by the benefits of cheap labor and materials abroad. For a long time U.S. retailers have been engaged in a competitive race to the bottom on pricing. It's easy to forget, according to a CNBC analysis last year, that when adjusted for the buying power of a dollar, computers, televisions, and a lot more consumer products are as much as 50% cheaper today than they were 25 years ago. The average price of a gallon of gas, adjusted for inflation, is about what it was at the turn of the century. Meanwhile, Americans have enjoyed a cornucopia of affordable merchandise from apparel to hardware which, fueled by pandemic stimulus payments and unleashed the phenomenon known as revenge spending. The effects of all of these events and decisions has been an ongoing whiplash of spending and reactive nature of retailers to adjust. It is all very myopic. It seems for our European cousins, who have known hardship and economic suffering through two world wars, our tariff problem is mostly a bump in the long road of history, with a much longer-term view.
