Although the provincial election will not be called until early May, the four confirmed candidates running to represent the Nipissing riding at Queen's Park are preparing to shift into official campaign mode and are eager to take part in a local candidates' debate on May 16, in advance of the expected June 2 election day.
Vic Fedeli, the incumbent Ontario PC candidate, is looking forward to the start of the official campaign in Nipissing. "As the election begins, we will be knocking on doors across the Nipissing riding every day," he says. “With a busy campaign schedule already planned out from now until election day we are very pleased to confirm we will be attending the community election debate."
The debate will be hosted by Cogeco YourTV on Monday, May 16 at 7 p.m. and will be carried on its local station and streamed live via YouTube.
Erika Lougheed is the Ontario NDP candidate and tells BayToday, "I can absolutely confirm my participation in the upcoming YourTV local candidates debate on May 16. I’m excited about it. I’ve met with and listened to many people share their stories since we began knocking on doors last fall. There have been some difficult conversations; people have been through a lot."
Sean McClocklin is the Ontario Green Party candidate and is also pleased to announce he will be attending the debate. “I am thrilled to have these opportunities to speak with the members of the community and hear what they have to say. With a full schedule laid out, I am confident that this will be yet another opportunity to speak on behalf of Nipissing Greens.”
Tanya Vrebosch is the Ontario Liberal candidate also confirms her participation in the debate. "I think it will be a great opportunity for us to share our plan with even more members of our community. I stand firmly behind the commitments we’ve already made and I think people will like the ideas still to come.”
Vrebosch says, since her nomination in November, “We’ve been working hard every single day to spread our message to as many people as we can — through phone calls, door-knocking, and public events. We’re receiving excellent feedback on our policy commitments so far and I’m proud of the outreach work our team has done to create a platform built by, and for, Ontarians."
Debates have been in the local news recently. Following an announcement from the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) that it would hold a debate featuring the four leaders of major provincial parties during its May conference, North Bay Pride saw an opportunity to hold its own debate that evening while the leaders were already in North Bay.
See related: Provincial leaders will debate during FONOM conference in North Bay
Since its request was rebuffed by Premier Doug Ford, North Bay Pride has called on the leaders of the Ontario Greens, Liberals, and NDP to boycott any debates involving Ford.
"You all have a chance to ensure people are being heard instead of the same old audiences. You have a chance to unify this province in equality — no matter your background, colour, sexual orientation or age," writes Jason Maclennan, communications director for North Bay Pride in a letter to the party leaders. "You have a chance to change politics to where anyone can be heard instead of just the elite. What say you? Do we stand together? Or, so we do the same old politics?"
Nipissing First Nation Chief Scott McLeod sent a letter in support of the North Bay Pride debate request, in which he states, "Debates miss the opportunity to include marginalized communities like the 2SLGBTQ+, persons with disabilities and Indigenous communities. North Bay Pride proved that good community representation is possible during a debate when they created the federal candidate debate during the last federal election."
As far as the May 16 debate among local candidates, each sees the opportunities for community members to have their questions answered and voices heard.
“I look forward to talking about my record and discussing the issues of importance to the people of Nipissing. I encourage all candidates to participate in this community debate, and all citizens and groups to forward their questions to Cogeco now,” says Fedeli.
Lougheed adds, "This [debate] is a tremendous opportunity to promote public policies that are responsive to our experiences as people living and working here [in Nipissing], and our priorities at a pivotal moment in time. I’m looking forward to it."
“I am looking forward to speaking and sharing our groundbreaking platform with voters in Nipissing. I encourage everyone to participate and share your questions and concerns with all of the candidates, myself included,” says McClocklin.
Vrebosch adds, "I encourage everyone to submit your questions and watch as many of the debates as you can so you have the opportunity to see exactly who is best suited to represent our riding in the next Government of Ontario."
According to YourTV, its debates are open to candidates who represent parties with seats in the Ontario Legislature and are members of the party to which they were elected. "Candidates invited to participate in the YourTV debate represent the Ontario PC Party, Green Party of Ontario, Ontario Liberal Party and the Ontario NDP. All other local-level candidates will be offered free time messages that will air as part of the debate programming."
