The only New Democrat ever to be elected in P.E.I.’s history wants his old job back.

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Dr. Herb Dickieson announced in mid-December he will be a candidate when party members gather in Charlottetown Feb. 7 to choose a new leader. That Saturday will be a major political milestone for the province as the governing Progressive Conservatives will also be choosing their new leader.

The retired O’Leary family physician made history in 1996 when he became the inaugural MLA for the now-defunct riding of West Point-Bloomfield, winning a tight three-way race with Liberal Fairley Yeo and Progressive Conservative Dr. Gary Morgan, by 138 votes. He proved to be an effective debater at Province House and persuaded the Progressive Conservative government of Pat Binns to join the rest of the country in implementing a public kindergarten program.

The Binns government expended considerable effort trying to unseat him in the 2000 election, and PC Eva Rodgerson became a government........

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