There is less than a week until Canadians head to the polls, and for voters in the riding of Timmins-James Bay there is one final opportunity to hear how the four candidates stand on the issues.
On Thursday evening, local newspaper The Daily Press will be hosting a debate at Timmins High & Vocational School, in the William Dawson Auditorium.
Charlie Angus of the NDP, John Curley of the Conservatives, Max Kennedy of the Green Party and Todd Lever of the Liberals have all confirmed their attendance.
The event will see a panel of eight local journalists ask the candidates directly about some of the more pressing issues in the Timmins-James Bay region.
The event is a partnership between The Daily Press and other local media outlets CTV, Timmins Times, Eastlink, Q92/Kiss radio, The Moose FM and TimminsToday.
TimminsToday's Andrew Autio will take part in the panel.
Alan S. Hale of The Daily Press explained his inspiration for the event.
“I wanted to see a debate that was a bit different from the norm. A lot of debates are basically asking candidates to recite what's in their platforms. I wanted something to shake things up a little bit and to ask some questions that are maybe a bit tougher than those asked at a lot of other debates,” said Hale.
A major portion of the event promises to see plenty of interaction between the candidates.
The moderator for the debate will be Karen Bachmann, local historian and curator of the Timmins Museum National Exhibition Centre.
She is likely to be kept busy once the jousting amongst the candidates begins.
This particular style of debate will be unlike any in recent memory.
At the national level, the majority of federal leaders debates in this campaign have been hosted by non-traditional media outlets. Maclean's magazine hosted the first English language debate on August 6. National newspaper The Globe and Mail hosted its debate on the economy on September 17.
The public is strongly encouraged to attend the free event.
“We would love people to come. Unfortunately because we will be having a media panel to ask the questions, there won't be any open mics but we would love for people to come and spectate and follow what's being said.”
At a previous debate hosted by the Timmins Chamber of Commerce on October 6, several of the questions posed to the candidates were submitted by the public.
The debate will start at 7 p.m. on the dot and is expectd to run just over an hour.
Spectators are asked to arrive 15 or 20 minutes beforehand.
