With Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi calling out Conservative Candidate Joan Crockatt for not participating in a by-election all candidates debate, I thought today would be a great time to tell you where I stand on all candidates debates during elections.
As some one who has been fortunate to participate in politics and live in a lot of major centres in Canada I can tell you that these debates all have one thing in common.
It is this: They are a waste of time!
The first thing you would see if you went to one would be all the wanna be politicos,campaign managers, candidates and party volunteers.
What you would be hard pressed to find would be actual voters who want to learn about the issues.
The reason for this is that these debates are stacked with political volunteers who ask their candidates softball questions to make them look good. Most people know that.
The average person get their news from the internet because there is no time to give up 2 or 3 hours for a partisan debate.
If you are the frontrunner( no matter what party) it is a night of all three parties ganging up on you.
Another thing, in my experience is that everybody and their dog wants to host a debate.
In the last federal election I can recall being invited to at least 8.Most of these are devised by people or groups whose sole reason for being is one issue.
Do I ever recommend candidates participate in an all candidates debate? If it is hosted by a Chamber of Commerce or Board of Trade then yes. They are mediated properly and keep partisan bs to a minimum.
In truth and in fact, politicians and voters would be much better of engaging on the door step.
Firstly a candidate will reach more voters by door knocking.
Secondly,the discerning voter can ask the questions they want answers to and demand an answer. Most good candidates will either know the answer or if they don’t say so and promise to get back to you.
All candidates Debates? They are a big waste of time and Naheed Nenshi made my case for me.