His time as leader and the 'exciting' race ahead: P.E.I. PC Leader James Aylward's thoughts on 2018

Although James Aylward's time as leader of the PCs is coming to an end, he said he's proud of what the party has been able to achieve this year and is excited to see who will guide the party into the next provincial election.

During a year-end review with CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin, Aylward reflected not only on his leadership but the "unprecedented" achievements the party made in 2018.

Stepping down as leader of the PCs

After less than a year at the helm of the party, Aylward announced in September that he was stepping down as leader of the Progressive Conservatives. At that time he explained to reporters that he had "not been able to make a strong enough connection with Islanders."

Looking back on it now, he said he's still "very comfortable" making that decision. 

"I looked at everything that was going on in my life at this current time and I had a lot of discussion with my family," he said, "and I'm very comfortable within my skin and the decision that I made."

Aylward said his time as leader has been an experience he wouldn't trade "for anything on Earth."

Number of private members bills passed 'unprecedented'

Aylward said the five private member's bills presented by the Opposition and passed in the legislature since the fall of 2017 were a great achievement.

He said that number is "unprecedented for an Opposition, and I'm just so proud of the team we have."

Most of the PC's bills that were passed were led by Steven Myers and Jamie Fox, but one bill regarding autism services was pushed by Sidney MacEwen which Aylward called "one of the big highlights of the year for me."

There's a lot of excitement out there.— James Aylward

Aylward also took credit for some of the measures introduced by the governing Liberals, saying they "essentially mirrored" PC promises from the 2015 election campaign, including raising the personal tax exemption and the removal of HST on heat sources.

"I applaud the Liberals for listening to the Progressive Conservatives," he said.

What does the future hold for the PCs?

The direction of the party will be under the guidance of a new leader come February 2019 and Aylward said the leadership race should be an "exciting period" for members of the party.

"We have five candidates that are vying for the leadership, I know they're all out there working equally hard across P.E.I., meeting people, signing up new members, re-engaging previous members," he said.

"There's a lot of excitement out there."

The interview with Aylward is the second in a series of scheduled year-end interviews with the leaders of all four P.E.I. political parties.

More P.E.I. news