Opposition Leader Peter Bevan-Baker on 24-hour shelters, health care and excitement for a 2023 election

P.E.I.'s Official Opposition Leader Peter Bevan-Baker says 2022 has been a challenging year.

"I still speak with Islanders every day who are really struggling or having a hard time, and that's distressing," the provincial Green Party leader said.

"It was made even more challenging and difficult by the fact that government was not always there when they needed to be to help people in their biggest time of need."

Bevan-Baker said his party has had to adjust to the Progressive Conservative majority in the legislature, but he said he's proud of how the Opposition has held Premier Dennis King's government accountable.

The Green Party leader said his party's biggest accomplishment this year was bringing the concerns of Islanders into the provincial legislature.

"Whether they are workers, whether they are seniors, whether they are tenants, whether they are health-care workers, they have all come to us," he said.

The Opposition leader said his priorities for the coming year include getting ready for the next provincial election, increasing access to healthcare, affordable housing and addressing the high cost of living.

Here are some of the topics discussed in his interview with CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.

Health care

The Green Party leader said while the lack of health-care employees is not a problem unique to P.E.I., he believes the government must take a different approach from other provinces to keep workers here.

"We're missing the mark because Islanders are still unable to access the health care they need where they live."

Bevan-Baker said the government must leverage P.E.I.'s quality of life to retain workers in the province.

"We should be able to use our Island's attractiveness, whether that's from an economic point of view or a social point of view or an environmental point of view, to attract people to come here and to keep them here."

The Opposition leader said Premier King's government also made a mistake by offering $8 million in retention incentive bonuses fora select group of health-care workers.

"That created such a division," Bevan-Baker said.

"We have to value and we have to respect every single health-care worker that we have, and that was not done."

Housing

The P.E.I. government recently opened an emergency shelterin Charlottetown with 50 beds forpeople experiencing homelessness in the city.

However, the shelter is only open from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., and some people are still choosing to live in an encampment on the Charlottetown Event Grounds.

Bevan-Baker said the next step the government must take is to make the shelter a24-hour service.

"When you get up in the morning, you also need a place where you feel like you belong, that feels like a home," he said.

"At the moment, having to get up in the morning and get out of wherever you are by 8 a.m. and go somewhere else, that's no way to treat people who are already struggling in all kinds of other ways."

Election

Premier Dennis King has not yet committed to an exact date for the nextprovincial election, but it is expected sometime in 2023.

Earlier this month, P.E.I. Liberal Leader Sharon Cameron announced she would be running for District 17, New Haven-Rocky Point, in the next election. Bevan-Baker currently holds that district's seat.

The Green Leader said he was a bit surprised by Cameron's decision, calling it "an interesting tactic."

"I live in a beautiful part of this province and I love my neighbours and I love serving the people in District 17. It's a beautiful place," he said.

"So, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that Sharon wants to come and visit for a few weeks."

Regardless, Bevan-Baker said he's "enormously excited" about the idea of a 2023 election, and his party is ready for it.

He said the Green Party will present Islanders with a different vision for the future: "a vision of inclusion, a vision of health and security and of transparency."

"When you have good governance, anything is possible."