Tories missing out on chance to engage local voters

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2016 (3829 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With little more than seven weeks remaining until the April 19 provincial election, Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative Party has officially announced those debates in which its leader, Brian Pallister, will be participating.

And while the Brandon Chamber of Commerce debate on April 7 was given the green light, the Brandon Sun-Westman Communications debate was, unfortunately, not.

It is, of course, Mr. Pallister’s choice — and that of his party’s — what debate invitations they accept and what invitations they decline. But we note with some concern that the party has also turned down an invitation to a Winnipeg Free Press-University of Winnipeg debate.

In a conversation with a Brandon Sun reporter this week, PC campaign spokesman Michael Richards gave us the following list of debates that the Tories have agreed to.

• a CJOB debate in Winnipeg on March 14;

• the Brandon chamber debate on April 7;

• a debate hosted by a Winnipeg television consortium on April 12;

• a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce debate on April 14;

• and two, possibly three, telephone town halls.

In the case of the Winnipeg Free Press debate, which was to be broadcast live on its website along with audience engagement through Twitter, those of us with an Internet connection in this province — i.e., most of us — are missing out on a chance to watch party leaders discuss issues from the campaign.

Those who paid attention to last year’s federal debates may note a slight irony — the Conservative Party of Canada had turned down television debate formats put forward by a broadcast consortium in favour of five independently staged leaders debates in the run-up to the fall election.

Of those independent debates, one was hosted by The Globe and Mail in partnership with Google Canada, and another hosted by Maclean’s magazine.

While this development is certainly a disappointment for our sister paper, it cannot be said that Mr. Pallister is avoiding Winnipeg media — not having agreed to both a radio and television debate. As Free Press editor Paul Samyn is quoted as saying in The Brandon Sun today, he remains hopeful that the Tory leader will reconsider his decision.

But the situation for Westman is somewhat different. We are offering residents a free public event to hear party leaders talk about issues that matter to this region, beyond the often Winnipeg-centric nature of province-wide debates. And although business questions to the party leaders are obviously important, the Brandon chamber debate is geared toward a narrower audience — the local business community.

There is also an obvious benefit to voters in having a debate in the evening, when most people are able to tune in to their cable station or on the radio — or better yet, turn up in person. Our debate format will offer audience members a chance to ask their own questions of those who aspire to form the next government. In our opinion, this is a great way to encourage public engagement.

Like the organizers of the Free Press-University of Winnipeg debate, we at The Brandon Sun and Westman Communications Group intend to forge ahead with our own planned debate, with or without the Progressive Conservative leader in attendance.

As of yesterday, both Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari and NDP Leader Greg Selinger have once again confirmed they will attend the The Brandon Sun and Westman Communications Group debate on April 7, as well as the Brandon Chamber debate earlier that day.

Our invitation to Mr. Pallister will remain open until the moment our debate begins. We’ll even save a seat for you, sir.