The Weyburn Chamber of Commerce announced the confirmed candidates who will be in attendance for the All Candidates Forum, to be held on Wednesday, Oct. 9, for the riding of Souris-Moose Mountain. The federal election will be held on Monday, Oct. 21.
Attending on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada will be Robert Kitchen and on behalf of the People’s Party of Canada will be Phillip Zajac.
On Monday, Travis Patron of the Canadian Nationalist Party announced he was going to pull out of the forum. In an email to the Review, he said, “I appreciate the invitation and consideration of our party. However, both the format and type of event will not be productive for our party at this time.”
Patron said the inaccurate way the party has been portrayed by mainstream media was also a factor, as he didn’t want to provide another opportunity to “lie about our party and tarnish any opportunity at democratically reforming our country.”
There was no indication from the other candidates about why they were not going to attend. The other candidates include Javin Ames-Sinclair of the Liberal Party, Judy Mergel of the Green Party, and Ashlee Hicks of the NDP.
“The Chamber is dedicated to providing an opportunity for all parties to express their views,” said executive director, Twila Walkeden. “The format of the event has changed slightly to accommodate the fewer than anticipated candidates participating.”
The event will begin at 7 p.m. and will conclude at 8 p.m., and will entertain questions posed by both Chamber members and the general public.
The Chamber’s purpose in providing this forum is to facilitate a respectful dialogue between candidates and those in attendance. Candidates will not be given an opportunity to debate issues with their fellow candidates or those in attendance.
They will be simply responding to the questions posed to them within a given time frame. The event is open to the public at no charge and will take place at the Royal Canadian Legion at 150 – ThirdStreet NE in Weyburn.
For those who can’t attend in person, the Forum can be viewed on Access 7 on October 15 and October 17 at 8 p.m. both days.
