Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island

History

In 1769, PEI was created as the British colony of St. John's Island. That year, a British Order in Council established a new government in the colony. In 1770, Lieutenant Governor Walter Patterson (the island's first Governor) arrived and appointed a seven-member Council to assist him in the administration of the island. By 1773, at the insistence of the British government, Governor Patterson summoned the island's first assembly.

As a colony, Prince Edward Island originally had a bicameral legislature founded in 1773 with the Legislative Council of Prince Edward Island serving as the upper house and the House of Assembly as the lower house. Together they composed the 1st General Assembly of the Island of Saint John, which sat for just ten days.

Elections for the island's first House of Assembly were held on July 4, 1773, with 18 members being elected in an at-large district. Tradition has it that the first session of the island's new assembly was held in the Crossed Keys Tavern on the corner of Queen and Dorchester Streets in Charlottetown; however, a journal entry contradicts this and indicates that it was actually held in the home of James Richardson.

After the name of the colony changed in 1798, the body became known as the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island.

The House of Assembly was increased in size to 24 in 1839. At the same time, the single, colony-wide at-large district was divided, with four dual-member constituencies created in each of the three counties. It was enlarged again in 1856, to 30 members elected in five dual-member constituencies in each county,an electoral map that would be in place until 1966. The Legislative Council remained an appointed body (prior to 1862).

As well in 1839, an important distinction was drawn between the executive and legislative capacities of the Legislative Council. The Executive Council and Legislative Councils were separated in 1839. The Legislative Assembly was given three seats on the Executive Council. The three members were appointed by the Governor. This separation of Executive Council and Legislative Councils proved to be an important step on the road to responsible government, which was finally achieved on April 23, 1851, when Liberal members under their leader George Coles were appointed as members of the Executive Council. However PEI still experienced political troubles, and no less than 12 different governments reigned in the 1851-1872 period.

In 1862, the Legislative Council became an elected body, with 13 members elected by property owners.

In 1873, PEI became a province in Confederation, with the old colonial bicameral government merely changing to a bicameral provincial government. Up to 1893, Prince Edward Island retained its long-standing bicameral system of government, consisting of a Legislative Council (elected after 1862) and an elected House of Assembly.

In 1893 the province became unicameral. Instead of simply abolishing its upper house as other Canadian provinces with historically bicameral legislatures did, Prince Edward Island merged the two houses. Its two chambers were amalgamated in 1893 to create one "Legislative Assembly" consisting of 30 members elected separately in 15 different two-seat constituencies through first-past-the-post voting. The only change to this system of returning members to the assembly was the addition of two members after the creation of 6th Queens in 1966.

The province was divided into dual-member districts, each of which was represented by one member who held the title Assemblyman and one member who held the title Councillor. This was a holdover from the legislature's historic bicameral structure in place until 1893.

After 1893, both members sat in the same legislative house. At first two separate groups elected the two members in each district - voters living in a district voted for the assemblyman while the voters plus any owning property in the district could vote for the councillor.

The property qualification was discontinued in 1963, largely eliminating any practical distinction between the roles of Councillor and Assemblyman, although the nominal titles continued to be used for the two types of members sitting in the legislative house.

The boundaries of the 15 districts were never adjusted for demographic or population changes, except for the division of 5th Queens, the district that contained the capital city of Charlottetown, into two districts prior to the 1966.

In 1996, the system and the electoral map were restructured, and the province now has twenty-seven Members of the Legislative Assembly, each elected from a different constituency.

In 2015, Province House was closed for repairs and conservation work. The legislature moved to the adjacent Hon. George Coles Building, where it is expected to remain for several years.

PEI's current single-member districts were introduced in 1996.

Composition

The Legislative Assembly currently has 27 single-member districts and is currently the smallest provincial assembly in Canada.

Seating plan

Current as of August 2025

Members of the General Assembly

Cabinet ministers are in bold, party leaders are in italic, and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is designated by a dagger (†).

Party membership

Officers

The legislature Black Rod has been carried by the Sergeant-at-Arms since 2000.

Notes

References

References

1. "The Legislative Assembly Act". Government of Prince Edward Island.
2. {{Cite canlaw. (1988)
3. PEI Legislative Assembly Canadian Parliamentary. https://www.revparlcan.ca/en/vol34-no2-the-prince-edward-island-legislative-assembly/
4. PEI Legislative Assembly Canadian Parliamentary. https://www.revparlcan.ca/en/vol34-no2-the-prince-edward-island-legislative-assembly/
5. PEI Legislative Assembly Canadian Parliamentary. https://www.revparlcan.ca/en/vol34-no2-the-prince-edward-island-legislative-assembly/
6. "Our History and Timeline {{!}} Legislative Assembly".
7. "Visitor Information". Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island.
8. (27 February 2024). "Seating Plan".
9. "Home | Legislative Assembly".