GPRC will be the site of the forum next Thursday

By Shaun Penner

Federal Election

Grande Prairie-Mackenzie All-Candidates Forum set for October 10

Oct 3, 2019 | 7:19 AM

The All-Candidates Forum for the 2019 Federal Election is slated to go one week from tonight at the Douglas J. Cardinal Performing Arts Centre at GPRC, hosted by the Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce.

The forum will give each candidate from the Grande Prairie-Mackenzie riding a chance to answer all questions submitted by the public.

Those questions can be submitted in a few different ways, says Chamber CEO Tanya Oliver.

“People can submit them to us ahead of time, prior to the forum,” said Oliver. “Or, during the evening itself, we’ll have papers available and anybody who has a question to ask, they write down the question, then we collect them and we can then combined them if there are some similar questions.”

Those questions will be vetted and then given to the moderator of the forum, who will be responsible for asking the questions.

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Oliver adds that the forum will not be a debate-style event, similar to the provincial candidate’s forum held this past spring during the Alberta election.

“What will happen is at the beginning, each candidate will have an opportunity for opening remarks,” said Oliver. “There will be the questions in the middle, with (each candidate) getting an opportunity to speak. Then at the end, they will be able to have their closing remarks.”

“At that time, if the candidates have anything that they wanted to say in rebuttal, that would be their opportunity.”

She adds that it allows for a respectful and balanced conversation.

“It gives everybody equal opportunity to have their say on the question,” said Oliver. “It removes the hostile environment that can sometimes happen. It just really provides a fair opportunity for everybody to participate.”

There are five official candidates listed on the Elections Canada website for this riding:

• Chris Warkentin (Incumbent) – Conservative
• Doug Burchill – People’s Party of Canada
• Kenneth Munro – Liberal
• Erin Alyward – NDP
• Shelley Termuende – Green Party

Oliver says all candidates have received the invitation to the forum, adding Termuende has sent a letter of regret stating she will not be in attendance.

The event begins at 5:30 on October 10 with a meet and greet with all candidates in the foyer of the auditorium. The forum will then go from 6:30 to 9 p.m.