In 1854, Perry left teaching, began farming to support his family and entered politics. As an Acadian, he supported the redistribution of land on the island from the landowners to the tenant farmers. In 1870, he supported a coalition conservative government because it supported grants to
Catholic schools. Perry was speaker in the provincial assembly from 1873 to 1874. Perry was initially opposed to
Confederation but ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the House of Commons in 1873 before being elected in 1874. He was also an unsuccessful federal candidate in 1878 and 1882. He was defeated in 1896 but won the subsequent by-election after the first election was declared invalid. Perry was a proponent of a tunnel to link the island to the mainland. He represented
1st Prince in the
Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1854 to 1875 and from 1879 to 1887 and, in the
House of Commons of Canada, represented
Prince County from 1874 to 1878 and from 1887 to 1896 and
West Prince from 1897 to 1898 as a
Liberal member. Perry (Poirier) was the first
Acadian to serve in both the provincial assembly and the House of Commons. Perry helped organize the first and second Acadian national conventions in
Memramcook, New Brunswick (1881) and
Miscouche, Prince Edward Island (1884) although he boycotted the second event because he wanted the event to be held in Tignish. ==Death==