The next prime minister of Canada could soon be walking onto a Prince George stage.
The Citizen is pleased to announce that it is hosting its first federal leaders’ debate.
It will take place at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29 at the newly renovated Prince George Playhouse.
The Citizen has extended formal invitations to the five parties that had seats in the House of Commons in the last Parliament, as well as to other parties.
The panel will be moderated by Citizen editor Kennedy Gordon.
“I’ve never moderated any kind of debate before, let alone at this level,” said Gordon. “But I did handle the customer service announcements when I worked at Zellers in the ’80s so I should do OK.”
Joining Gordon on the debate stage will be Citizen politics reporter Colin Slark — who will be responsible for timekeeping, scorekeeping, photos, audio and video, PowerPoint slides, social media updates, video livestream, podcasting, reviewing and forwarding questions submitted online and getting coffee — and Citizen owner/publisher Cameron Stolz.
“This is the kind of town hall that voters have come to expect during a campaign," Stolz said.
Slark issued a terse “no comment.”
To properly showcase our community to the party leaders before the debate, they will be taken on a tour of Connaught Hill and shown the site for our city’s new IMAX theatre. Arriving at the PG Playhouse, The Citizen has arranged for Mr. PG to welcome them, decked out with a Citizen hat and T-shirt. As well, Mr. PG will have a newspaper delivery bag over his shoulder and be holding a rolled-up copy of the paper.
So far, two parties have confirmed their leaders will be in attendance.
Penny L. Hemlock is the leader of the Evergreen Standard Party, which is promising to rejuvenate the Canadian economy by replacing the dollar with a new currency based on the market value of pine sap.
The party’s head office is in Prince George (of course).
She’ll be joined by Roland Eice, leader of the RPG Party, which aims to run the country like an extended Dungeons and Dragons campaign. “It’s strictly merit-based,” a spokesperson told The Citizen. “And magic-based. We want to elect the best role players.”
The debate will be streamed live here on The Citizen's website, but due to expected bandwidth issues caused by heavy demand, only 11 people at a time will be able to watch.
The campaigns of the Conservatives, the Liberals, the NDP, the Greens, the Bloc Quebecois, the People’s Party of Canada and most other federal parties have not yet responded to the invitations, so it is not confirmed whether Mark Carney, Pierre Poilievre, Jagmeet Singh, Yves-Francois Blanchet, Elizabeth May and/or that other Green co-leader will appear.
“So, your debate will be free for us to attend?” asked one party’s communications director after The Citizen reached out.
Gordon said the debate will go ahead regardless of how many leaders show up, and there’s a plan in place if some of the seats on the stage are empty.
“We’ll hold a draw and pick people from the audience to come up and take a party leader’s place,” he said. “Probably be just as good. I met a guy at the laundromat once who can do a pretty good Trump impression so that might be fun.”
Questions will be asked in both official languages, with leaders answering first in English and then in French, except Carney.
L'événement comprendra également un vente de malle, des food trucks et un concert du Bella Coola Jug Band.
Happy April Fool’s Day from the staff of The Citizen.
