UNITY – Election Day is less than a week away and candidates are still hot on the campaign trails, trying to connect with as many voters as possible. For the four Cut Knife-Turtleford candidates, they had the opportunity to speak on their party’s platforms at a forum held in Unity Oct. 21.
The forum was hosted by the Unity and District Chamber of Commerce, with Mitch Cooper stepping in as moderator for the evening. Of the four candidates, only three attended the evening: Clayton Poole (NDP), Steve Gessner (Sask. United) and James Thorsteinson (Sask. Party).
The evening started with introductions of each candidate, followed by pre-determined, generalized questions many voters had on their minds. Questions were collected from the audience via pen and paper throughout the two-hour forum. Candidates were allowed two minutes to speak after each question.
It was evident the three candidates had similar stances on some topics, including the main concern within the constituency’s borders being healthcare. Other topics discussed throughout the evening included education, the economy, and policing and crime.
One of the questions posed to the candidates was on the topic of school changing rooms and gender-reassigned children. Gessner stood up and addressed the two youth siblings who were in attendance, asking them if they identify as a boy or a girl. The younger of the two said he was a boy, while his older sibling silently shook their head, refusing to answer.
“She was embarrassed when she was put on the spotlight. I guess we won’t be sitting in the front row anymore,” said the father of the teen.
An audience member became vocal after the moderator put forth only a few of the audience questions to the candidates towards the end of the forum, saying there were questions that had not been answered and the forum was being run like a dictatorship.
“There were a few factors that played into the decision on what questions would be put forth to the candidates. Some questions were answered throughout the evening, some were for another constituency or federally focused and the forum was already running longer than anticipated,” said Cooper.
As moderator, Cooper did address the crowd, advising if they wanted to still ask further questions, the candidates agreed to stay back to chat with everyone.
While there were a handful of people from the audience who were not happy how the forum was run, Chamber president Kelsey Sperle did receive more positive feedback than negative.
“The Chamber decided to put on the forum to help educate those who were unsure of how to vote this election. The forum was not intended to be a debate between the parties. The candidates were quite happy to work with us and how the evening went,” said Sperle.
