Editing Prince Edward Island (section)

==Government and politics==
{{Main|Government of Prince Edward Island|Politics of Prince Edward Island}}
The provincial government is responsible for such areas as health and social services, education, economic development, labour legislation and civil law. These matters of government are overseen in the provincial capital, Charlottetown.

Prince Edward Island is governed by a [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary government]] within the construct of [[constitutional monarchy]]; the [[monarchy in Prince Edward Island]] is the foundation of the executive, [[Legislature|legislative]], and [[Judiciary|judicial]] branches.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Canadian Heritage |title=Department of Canadian Heritage Portfolio |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |date=February 2009 |edition=2nd |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/publctn/gp-pg/ppc-chp/ppc-chp-eng.pdf |pages=3–4 |isbn=978-1-100-11529-0 |access-date=May 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611162155/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/publctn/gp-pg/ppc-chp/ppc-chp-eng.pdf |archive-date=June 11, 2011 }}</ref> The sovereign is [[King Charles III]], who also serves as head of state of [[Commonwealth realm|14 other Commonwealth countries]], each of Canada's nine other provinces, and the Canadian federal realm, and resides in the United Kingdom. As such, the King's representative, the [[Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island]] (presently [[Wassim Salamoun]]), carries out most of the royal duties in Prince Edward Island.<ref>{{cite web |last=Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island |title=Role > Role and Responsibilities |url=http://www.gov.pe.ca/olg/index.php?number=1022327&lang=E |publisher=Queen's Printer for Prince Edward Island |access-date=September 13, 2012 |archive-date=June 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610200802/http://www.gov.pe.ca/olg/index.php?number=1022327&lang=E |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Rear of Province House , Charlottetown, PEI (19000152484).jpg|thumb|The exterior of [[Province House (Prince Edward Island)|Province House]], meeting place for the [[Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island]]]]
The direct participation of the royal and viceroyal figures in any of these areas of governance is limited; in practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by [[Executive Council of Prince Edward Island|the Executive Council]], a committee of [[Minister of the Crown|ministers of the Crown]] responsible to the unicameral, elected [[Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island|Legislative Assembly]] and chosen and headed by the [[Premier of Prince Edward Island]] (presently [[Rob Lantz]]), the [[head of government]]. To ensure the stability of government, the lieutenant governor will usually appoint as premier the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a [[plurality (voting)|plurality]] in the Legislative Assembly. The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the [[Leader of the Opposition (Prince Edward Island)|Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition]] (presently [[Hal Perry (politician)|Hal Perry]]) and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.<ref>{{cite web |last=Library of Parliament |title=The Opposition in a Parliamentary System |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/researchpublications/bp47-e.htm |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=May 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125122354/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/content/lop/researchpublications/bp47-e.htm |archive-date=November 25, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Each of the 27 [[Member of the Legislative Assembly|Members of the Legislative Assembly]] (MLA) is elected by simple plurality in an [[Canadian electoral district|electoral district]]. General elections are called by the lieutenant governor for the first Monday in October four years after the previous election, or may be called earlier on the advice of the premier.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.pe.ca/law/statutes/pdf/e-01_1.pdf |last=Elizabeth II |author-link=Elizabeth II |title=Election Act |year=2008 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Prince Edward Island |at=4.1(2)(b) |access-date=September 13, 2012 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924023346/http://www.gov.pe.ca/law/statutes/pdf/e-01_1.pdf}}</ref> Historically, politics in the province have been dominated by the [[Prince Edward Island Liberal Party|Liberal]] and the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island|Progressive Conservative Parties]] since the province joined Confederation. From the [[2015 Prince Edward Island general election|2015 election]], the [[Green Party of Prince Edward Island]] gained a small representation in the Legislative Assembly, and in the [[2019 Prince Edward Island general election|2019 election]] gained an additional six seats to form the [[Official Opposition]].

The Mi'kmaq Confederacy of PEI is the tribal council and provincial-territorial organization in the province that represents both the Lennox Island and Abegweit First Nations.

===Administrative divisions===
{{See also|List of counties of Prince Edward Island|List of parishes in Prince Edward Island}}

Prince Edward Island is divided into three [[List of counties of Prince Edward Island|counties]] that have historically been used as administrative divisions for the provincial government, and prior to [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]] (in 1873), the colonial government.

Today, the counties are no longer used as administrative boundaries for the provincial government, though they continue to be used as [[Census divisions of Canada|census division]]s by [[Statistics Canada]] for statistical purposes in administering the [[Census in Canada|Canadian census]].<ref name=2016StatCan>{{cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/pd-pl/Table.cfm?Lang=Eng&T=701&SR=1&S=3&O=D&RPP=25 |title=Population and dwelling count highlight tables, 2016 Census |publisher=[[Statistics Canada]] |date=February 8, 2017 |access-date=March 9, 2017 |archive-date=March 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304232636/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/pd-pl/Table.cfm?Lang=Eng&T=701&SR=1&S=3&O=D&RPP=25 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Municipalities====
{{See also|List of municipalities in Prince Edward Island}}
{{#section:List of municipalities in Prince Edward Island|overview}}

[[File:Prince Edward Island municipalities.png|thumb|upright=1.75|Municipalities of Prince Edward Island]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
|+ Ten largest communities by population
|- style="background:#ccc;"
! Community !! 2011 !! 2001</tr>
|align="left"| [[Charlottetown]] || 32,545<sup>a</sup> || 32,455</tr>
|align="left"| [[Summerside, Prince Edward Island|Summerside]] || 15,654<sup>b</sup> || 14,433</tr>
|align="left"| [[Stratford, Prince Edward Island|Stratford]] || 8,043 || 6,314</tr>
|align="left"| [[Cornwall, Prince Edward Island|Cornwall]] || 5,375 || 4,412</tr>
|align="left"| [[Montague, Prince Edward Island|Montague]] || 2,034<sup>c</sup> || 1,095</tr>
|align="left"| [[Kensington, Prince Edward Island|Kensington]] || 1,445 || 1,379</tr>
|align="left"| [[Souris, Prince Edward Island|Souris]] || 1,162 || 1,238</tr>
|align="left"| [[Alberton, Prince Edward Island|Alberton]] || 1,081 || 975</tr>
|align="left"| [[Tignish, Prince Edward Island|Tignish]] || 998 || 846</tr>
|align="left"| [[Georgetown, Prince Edward Island|Georgetown]] || 678 || 680</tr>
|-
|colspan="3" style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;"| <sup>a</sup>Census agglomeration population: 58,358.<br/><sup>b</sup>Census agglomeration population: 16,200.<br/><sup>c</sup>Census agglomeration population: 6,011.
|}

===Zoning===
Rolling hills, woods, reddish white sand beaches, ocean coves and the famous red soil have given Prince Edward Island a reputation as a province of outstanding natural beauty. As a result, the provincial government has enacted laws to preserve the landscape through regulation, although there is a lack of consistent enforcement.

There is no province-wide [[zoning]] and [[land-use]] planning. Under the Planning Act of the province, municipalities have the option to assume responsibility for land-use planning through the development and adoption of official plans and land use bylaws. Thirty-one municipalities have taken responsibility for planning.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} In areas where municipalities have not assumed responsibility for planning, the Province remains responsible for development control.<ref>Prince Edward Island. (1988). Planning Act, RSPEI 1988, c P-8. Retrieved from https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/legislation/planning-act</ref>