Delta voters will get three chances to hear from the candidates in this month’s federal election.
First up, Delta Organizing Against Racism and Hate (OARH) Committee is hosting a virtual all-candidates meeting on Friday, Sept. 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. to “address anti-racism and equity related issues relevant to federal issues.”
The meeting follows “anti-racism rallies responding to incidents of power and privilege globally and in Delta this past year,” according to the event’s description. “This will be an opportunity for candidates to talk about their own positions, as well as each party’s platform related to systemic issues of racism, hate and other injustices.”
Those wishing to attend the online event must register at eventbrite.ca/e/delta-oarhs-anti-racism-equity-all-candidates-tickets-169696927077. The event will only be available in English, however live auto-generated closed captioning will be available.
Questions for the candidates can be emailed in advance to deltaoarh@gmail.com.
Next, the Delta Residents Association will be hosting a virtual all-candidates meeting on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 1 p.m., however voters won’t get to watch the meeting until at least Sept. 13, when organizers say the video will be posted to the DRA’s YouTube page.
Residents can submit questions for the candidates by emailing them to delta.residents@gmail.com before Sept. 6.
Finally, the Delta Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a candidates event addressing “business and business-related community issues” on Tuesday, Sept. 14, from 7-8:30 p.m.
Candidates, moderators and technical staff will be the only ones attending in-person; for everyone else the meeting will be livestreamed via YouTube. To watch live, voters must register at deltachamber.ca to receive a link to the event.
Organizers have made the decision to follow participation criteria set out by the Leaders’ Debates Commission (the independent entity that organizes the two leaders debates), meaning that unlike in previous elections, only some of the candidates running for Delta MP have been invited to participate in the event.
Under the commission’s rules, only parties that are represented in the House of Commons by an elected member of Parliament, that received at least four per cent of votes cast in the previous federal election, or that are polling at at least four per cent support nationally five days before an election is called may participate in the leaders debate.
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What that means in this case is only the Liberal (Carla Qualtrough), Conservative (Garry Shearer), NDP (Monika Dean) and Green Party (Jeremy Smith) candidates have been invited to participate in the Delta Chamber’s event.
People’s Party of Canada candidate Paul Tarasenko and independent Hong Yan Pan are the two candidates not invited to participate.
Questions for the candidates participating in the Delta Chamber event can be submitted in advance either by email (info@deltachamber.ca), by mail or in person (6201 60th Ave., Delta, V4K 4E2). Those watching the livestream may submit their questions live via the Slido app — a code to access the app will be sent to registered participants prior to the event.
Voting day is Monday, Sept. 20, with advanced voting happening Sept. 10-13.
— with files from Katya Slepian
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