Kevin O’Leary, Kellie Leitch and Maxime Bernier won’t be at Sunday’s leadership debate at the Vogue Theatre.
But that might not matter as much as you think.
The Conservative Party of Canada is using a ranking system for its leadership vote. Party members will not only pick their first choice but also their second, third and fourth choices. If there’s no clear first-place winner, those other votes will count for a lot.
“Many leadership winners have come up the middle,” says Kirk LaPointe, who will be moderating the debate. “The ranked ballot means it will be very important for a lot of people to know all the candidates.”
The format has been carefully chosen to focus on issues that haven’t been debated before, says LaPointe, a journalist — he was an editor at the Vancouver Sun, National Post and, currently, is the vice-president of the Courier’s sister publication, Business in Vancouver — and 2014 Vancouver mayoral candidate.
“We’re endeavouring to make sure they’re not questions they’ve been facing,” he says, adding that organizers will also be taking note of what the candidates say at the candidates debate the previous night in Langley. “There will be a lot of familiarity in the audience and the candidates will have to do something different [to catch the audience’s attention.] I want it to be an opportunity for the candidates to illuminate their outlooks and ambitions for the country.”
The forum will be split in two segments. In the first, two candidates will take to the stage with LaPointe, who has been given free reign to come up with the questions.
There will also be the traditional approach of having all candidates on the stage.
Each candidate will have four or five rebuttal cards which they can use to challenge what their opponent says. Once the cards are used, no more rebuttals are allowed.
LaPointe doesn’t want to give the candidates a heads-up about what they’ll be asked. “We want them to have enough surprises.”
The two local candidates are former North Vancouver MP Andrew Saxton and Vancouver venture capitalist Rick Peterson. O’Leary isn’t coming because he is in the United States; Leitch and Bernier have to leave Vancouver after Saturday night’s debate in Langley.
The debate, hosted by Vancouver Conservatives, is Sunday, February 19 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at the Vogue Theatre. Tickets are $25 to $30 and are available on Ticketfly.com.
