All–Candidates Meeting a success in Beeton

October 9, 2015 · 0 Comments

The federal All–Candidates Meet & Greet and Question and Answer, as hosted by The Times of New Tecumseth newspaper, took place on Sunday afternoon at the Beeton Memorial Arena.
The event was emceed by Wendy Gabrek, and filmed by Rogers TV, local channel 65.
Note: The broadcast will air starting Saturday, October 10th. There will also be a posting to the Rogers YouTube channel under ‘Candidates Meetings and Debates’. You can find a link to view the show at www.rogerstv.com
“I would like to start by introducing our candidates for the riding of Simcoe–Grey and today’s format,” said Gabrek.
“With us here today are incumbent MP, Dr. Kellie Leitch of the Conservative Party; Mike MacEachern, of the Liberal Party; David Matthews, representing the NDP, and rounding out our panel is JoAnne Fleming, federal Green Party candidate.
Each of the candidates will have 5 minutes timed to introduce themselves and their party platform, and how their party’s policies and procedures, should they be elected to parliament, affect the residents of Simcoe–Grey.
Following the introductions, the candidates took questions from the floor. Questions were concise, and directed to a specific candidate or candidates. Candidate responses were timed, and did not exceed two minutes in length.
“Please think of what you’d like to ask your candidates at this point,” said Gabrek. “Duplication of questions, inappropriate comments and bullying will not be tolerated. Unruly audience members will be asked to leave.
“I will serve as both time-keeper and moderator during this Meet & Greet. Any issues of concern should be addressed to me directly.”
The Q&A began at 1:30 p.m., and the last question was accepted at 3 p.m.
Following the Question and Answer period, Candidates remained on hand to speak with constituents one-on-one at their individual information booths.
Throughout the program, the kitchen was open. Coffee, cold drinks and snacks were available for purchase, courtesy of Creamahh of Beeton.
The 2015 Canadian federal election will be held on October 19th, to elect members to the House of Commons of the 42nd Parliament of Canada.
With an 11-week campaign period, the longest campaign in modern Canadian History, there’s been a lot of pressure on our candidates to meet with voters and attend events – hosted almost daily throughout our massive riding.
“For those reasons and more, I am very grateful that all four of our candidates are here with us today, I thank you.”
Perhaps some of you know who you will be voting for already – having already formulated opinions of the party, or the person – or perhaps Sunday’s meeting helped you with that decision.
The event was well-attended, and 10 people came forward to ask questions of the candidates – topics ranged from seniors’ care to farming; to Canadian scientists, women’s issues and more.
On October 19th – VOTE!