Non-political questions for P.E.I. political leaders

Some Islanders may want to know the more personal side of the leaders in P.E.I.'s race for the top seat in the province before they head to the polls on election day April 23.

CBC's Mitch Cormier drew up some non-political questions for the leaders of each of the Island's political parties.

These questions were asked and the answers were given prior to thedeath of a Green candidate in District 9.

Here are some of the leader's answers.

Green Party LeaderPeter Bevan-Baker

If you had to live somewhere else on P.E.I. where would it be?

It would be in Pinette, where Anne and I own a piece of land. I love this part of the Island. I love Charlottetown too, but we have a piece of beautiful land down there. And at some point when I am passed all of this crazy life, we'll hopefully end up there.

How many brothers and sisters do you have? What is the most memorable thing you've done with any of them?

I have four sisters. We were playing golf out in our front yard. And in my back swing I whacked one of my sisters, in the head with the club, and cut her. It wasn't a terribly bad injury, but she was bleeding. And I was probably about fiveor sixat the time, she was screaming of course, she was younger than me. And so rather than take her into my mom and dad, I locked her in the shed and left her there.She is fine by the way.

Who taught you the most life lessons and can you share one?

That would be my dad. My mom and my dad were an unusual couple. My dad was an artist, a musician, a composer. A fabulous musician. And my mom was a PhD chemist. I used to do a "happy dentist"talk and at the end of that I used to say there are a couple things that are critical to leading a happy life. One is to think for yourself, the other is to live for others, and that was something that my dad taught me.

New Democratic Party LeaderJoe Byrne

Is there anything you would like to change about yourself?

I definitely need to lose some weight. I'd like to stop losing hair but I'm okay with both of those for now, it's just a work in progress.

What is your favourite song?

The first song that comes to life is 45 years by Stan Rogers and For What it's Worth, and both those songs speak to me a lot.

What was the last show you binge watched?

The Punisher. Whoever writes that stuff, it's a bit crazy but the fact that you can just go out and say "I'm going to fix this anyway I can."And all of the sudden he finds an ally in fixing the world. The Punisher,it was way too many late nights on that. I won't be using his technique, just saying.

Progressive Conservative LeaderDennis King

If you could go back what would you tell your teenage self?

I think I would tell my teenage self somewhere down the line you might be thinking you might run to be the premier of this province, so maybe you could act accordingly, pay a little bit more attention to things in school. But overall, I look back on my life I don't know how much I would change. The experience I have, the scars I have are hard earned.But you know what you might be running for premier someday Denny act accordingly, put your phone away.

What was your first pet, and what did it mean to you?

My first pet was a German shepherd mix named Brooksie, who my oldest brothergot at The Humane Society when it was in Hazelbrook, thus the name Brooksie. He was just one of these pets that a kid has, he's your loyal friend, he's your pal. My brother would tease me and pretend he could actually speak German. My brother would throw a whole bunch of words that weren't even German to talk to the dog and he would bark back. For the first six or seven years of my life I thought he was actually German.

What is your favourite meal?

Ifmy mom was cooking I would say I like a boiled dinner with the spare ribs that sort of thing. That'd be my favourite all-time meal. If my wife is cooking she makes a lovely shrimp alfredo, which is not the most healthy thing to eat but so tasty. But I think the old boiled dinner in Georgetown Royalty, it's pretty hard to beat that.

Liberal Party LeaderWade MacLauchlan

What was the last book or magazine you read for pleasure?

I am reading Paris in the Present Tense by Mark Helprin.It's a lovely novel and it is a great departure from whatever is on my mind at the moment. When I read for pleasure I usually read at home. I read a lot of non-fiction, but at this time I use my fiction reading as a departure, or frankly as a way to get to sleep.

What is your favourite meal?

Oh that is so tough, because they are so many. Let me say my seafood chowder. I make a flour free seafood chowder, not because I was ona gluten-free kick at the time but just think potatoes add so much to everything.

What was your first job and what did you learn from it?

We worked early. I sold newspapers, like big time, when I was nineand 10. But before that we dug worms and collected bottles, gave pony rides and dug clams. So, it was probably clam digging that was my very earliestkind of paying job, $2 a bucket and that was for four hours work. I sold them to my dad and mom who had the motel at the time. So, we sold them to tourists around Stanhope and we were hustling at an early age. But the newspapers was my biggest preparation for going around talking to people about their vote. We used to sell, I don't mean deliver. We'd go around the point in Stanhope and at the peak, this is a 10 year old on a bicycle, we would sell 240 newspapers.

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