Council candidates make an impression at debates

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This article was published 15/10/2022 (1222 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The moderator and panelists for this week’s city council candidates debate say they were impressed with the quality of candidates who took the stage.

Candidates who took part in the Brandon Municipal Election All Candidates Debate managed to impress moderator Kerry Auriat, and that’s saying something given that he has moderated, and sometimes been a panelist, for 25 debates over more than 20 years, for races at all levels of government.

“This might have been one of the most prepared groups of people that I’ve ever had on a debate stage,” Auriat said, adding he was also impressed with the panelists as they didn’t shy away from asking probing questions.

Wednesday’s debate at Brandon University’s Lorne Watson Recital was hosted by The Brandon Sun, Brandon University and WCGtv as a way to prepare Brandonites for the decisions they’ll make in the Oct. 26 civic election.

The 17 candidates who took part are from a variety of backgrounds, Auriat noted, and none had an axe to grind, which Auriat said has been the case at other debates he’s been involved with.

One of the more experienced panelists for the debate was Brandon University associate professor of political science Kelly Saunders, who has moderated and served as a panelist for decades for debates on the municipal, provincial and federal levels.

Saunders said splitting the evening into three one-hour mini debates allowed panelists to set aside several minutes for each question, allowing for a deeper conversation about the issues facing Brandon.

Candidates from wards 3 and 1 went first, then those from wards 2 and 10, and finally wards 4 through 9.

“I like this format,” Saunders said. “I thought it gave voters a chance to really see how candidates felt and what their views were about specific issues.”

Centering discussions around sustainability, public safety and civic governance hopefully gave citizens a chance to sense how the candidates felt about those issues.

Saunders said she was surprised about some of the “push back” panelists received from incumbent councillors surrounding public access and record-keeping for informal meetings that have been held by council.

Fellow panelist Murray Oliver also said he was surprised by the responses incumbents had to the issue of closed meetings.

The Sun has reported that half of the 206 meetings held by Brandon City Council between October 2018 and April 2022 were informal sessions, held by councillors and city staff, that weren’t open to the public. For some meetings, no minutes were taken.

During the third debate Wednesday evening, a number of incumbents defended the meetings as educational sessions for councillors where no decisions were made. The strongest defence came from incumbent and acclaimed councillors Shawn Berry, Glen Parker and Bruce Luebke. Berry and Parker both suggested more in-camera sessions would result if the meetings were opened.

“I found the whole thing very bizarre,” Oliver said. “And I would think that they would be concerned how this would appear.”

Nonetheless, Oliver said he was pleased with the responses he heard.

“I was really impressed with the quality of the candidates, and that includes the incumbents,” Oliver said. “Really, I heard impressive things from every one.”

While a chance for the audience to ask questions would be nice, Saunders said, she would stick with the same format for future debates.

Brandon University director of marketing and communications Grant Hamilton agreed that the mini-debate format worked well and allowed the audience to focus on the races that matter to them. Hamilton also gave credit to the candidates, including those councillors who were acclaimed in their wards yet took part anyway.

“I was happy with the thoughtfulness and consideration that all the candidates did bring to the table,” Hamilton said. “They were quite open about what they knew and what they didn’t know, and I think that was of benefit to the audience and to the voters in each ward.”

“I think we tried to make sure that we engaged with everybody, and I think we were very successful,” added Auriat, who is looking forward to the mayoral debate set for next Wednesday when candidates Jeff Fawcett and Elliott Oleson are set to square off.

“I think it’s going to be very, very interesting.”

» ihitchen@brandonsun.com