Charlottetown — Prince Edward Island's Tories have won their third consecutive majority during Monday's provincial election.
It was the first time Islanders elected three consecutive Conservative majority governments since the 1880s.
Conservative Premier Pat Binns was elected in his own riding, retaining 70 per cent of the popular vote. His party is leading in 22 of the province's 27 ridings.
The standings at dissolution were 26 Tories and one Liberal.
Prince Edward Island Premier Pat Binns addresses supporters in Murray River after winning the provincial election on Monday. (Andrew Vaughan/CP)
"It's a historic night. It's a great night for the Conservative party," he said during his victory speech after being carried into the arena near his Murray River home on the shoulders of two husky supporters.
"Sometimes it's called P.E.I.; sometimes it's P.E.Island. But tonight I want to call it PC Island."
Mr. Binns watched the results at home on a small television run by a generator. The only light was from a hurricane lamp.
Voter turnout on the Island was strong, despite the destruction caused early Monday morning by hurricane Juan. At least 44,000 Islanders — or about half of the Island's households — were still without power on Monday, yet about 83 per cent of the electorate cast their ballots.
Mr. Ghiz, the 29-year-old son of former premier Joe Ghiz, said he was pleased to establish a small but solid beachhead in the legislature. The party's percentage of the popular vote shot up from 33.5 per cent in 2000 to 42.8 per cent Monday.
"It's a good start," Mr. Ghiz said from his Charlottetown headquarters. "We have a lot of work to do over the next four years.
"We ran a very good campaign, but we were up against a very popular premier."
Voters taking part in Prince Edward Island's provincial election dodged shattered trees and drooping power lines Monday as they made their way to polling stations in the aftermath of the hurricane.
Merrill Wigginton, the Island's chief electoral officer, said he had to use a chainsaw to clear his driveway before he could get to his office to supervise the election.
Mr. Wigginton's office was still without power by early afternoon, which prompted him to move with his staff to the Confederaton Centre of the Arts next to the legislature, which was getting power from emergency generators.
Three polling stations were moved to Holland College in Charlottetown because of power outages. At one of the other stations in Charlottetown, the voting process was slowed by a long lineup.
Mr. Binns, Canada's longest serving premier, voted at a polling station lit by a single bulb dangling over the voting booth.
The main issues in the election called earlier this month were rising electricity rates; property taxes; auto insurance premiums; leadership and environmental legislation.
