UNITY — With less than a week left before the country casts their ballots, three of the four candidates for the Battlefords- Lloydminster- Meadow Lake constituency took part in a forum hosted by the Unity Chamber of Commerce, April 22.
Larry Ingram (Liberal Party of Canada), Darrell Patan (Canadian Future Party), and William Petryk (Canada’s NDP) were in attendance, but incumbent Rosemarie Falk (Conservative Party of Canada) declined the invitation.
Each candidate had the opportunity to answer pre-vetted questions by moderator Kathy Johnson before questions from the floor were taken. While many respected the forum protocols, there were a few individuals who were there to call out their opinions on certain parties.
As the forum drew to an end, chamber president Kelsey Sperle thanked the candidates for their time and thanked those who came to listen to the parties. Following the forum, candidates mingled among those who wanted to talk more. All three men said they were impressed with how the evening’s forum had gone and were surprised by the number of people in attendance.
“I was shocked to see twice as many people at tonight’s forum as we had last week in Lloydminster,” said Ingram.
Some of those who came to the forum were upset to see Falk was not in attendance. According to communications between Falk’s office and Sperle, the incumbent chose to focus on making connections in the communities recently added to the constituency following the change in the electoral boundaries. Falk was also not in attendance at the Lloydminster forum, held April 16.
Election day is set for April 28, with the polls open from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. local time.
