Candidates Avoid Facing Public

September 27, 2003 permalink

Candidates in Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey for the upcoming provincial election on October 2 avoided the customary all-candidates meeting. Instead, five men spoke in a Rogers studio answering prepared questions from journalists, without public participation. The resulting video was shown on Rogers cable television, a channel inaccessible to many rural residents receiving only American satellite TV. The format was adopted at the insistence of Ernie Eves, over objections of the other four candidates.

It is customary for the candidates to appear in a meeting where members of the public can ask questions not otherwise on the agenda. In a past meeting, one voter caught the candidates off guard with a question about purple loosestrife.

In the previous byelection, the format was already modified, by forcing the audience to write questions on a card, with cards drawn by Geoff Mullin. According to a press release by the Ontario Liberal Party, 33 Progressive Conservative candidates in this election have refused to participate in debates at all-candidates meetings.

Only Dave Davies of the Family Coalition Party has mentioned family law in his platform. There is no way to ask candidates about family law issues such as child abduction, divorce, or homosexual marriage.