Guest Post by Ron Penney
Under section 3.1 of the House of Assembly Act, an election is required to be held within 12 months of the swearing in of a new Premier, which occurred on August 19, 2020. So an election is required by August of next year.
It is obviously tempting for the new Premier, operating in a minority situation, and having a recent further reduction in his caucus, to call the election sooner rather than later. This is particularly the case because Dame Moya Greene will provide her interim report on February 28, 2021 and final report on April 30, 2021, focusing in large part on our fiscal crisis and how we should respond.
In addition, we have so far had a good public health response to the pandemic and federal programs have alleviated to a large degree the economic impact on most families. Given the imminent rollout of the vaccine, and should the caseload remain low, it will be to the political advantage of the government to go to the polls sooner rather than later.
And finally, the governing party is riding high in the polls
The Government should resist that temptation.
