More debates next week
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
Oshawa residents hoping to hear from candidates in the upcoming election will have at least two more opportunities to hear what they have to say.
The first will be a debate co-hosted by Durham College, Trent University Durham and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology on Sept. 30.
This debate, which is not affiliated with the one co-hosted by the student associations for Durham and UOIT on Sept. 17, will see candidates from both the Oshawa and Durham ridings duke it out in two separate debates.
The debate for candidates in the Oshawa riding will kick off at 6:30 p.m., with the Durham candidates following up at 8 p.m.
Both debates will take place in Gym 2 at the joint Durham College/UOIT campus’ Recreation and Wellness Centre.
Thus far, according to Meghan Ney, a spokesperson for Durham College, the Oshawa candidates confirmed to attend are Conservative nominee and incumbent Colin Carrie, the NDP’s Mary Fowler, Liberal’s Tito-Dante Marimpietri and the Green’s Michael Dempsey.
For the Durham riding, Corinna Traill of the Liberals and Derek Spence of the NDP will take on Conservative incumbent Erin O’Toole.
While the debates are going on, their parties will be hosting a candidate expo, as well as networking opportunities, over in Gym 1.
Those hoping to have their questions answered can submit them to externalrelations@uoit.ca.
Refuge debate
The next day, three of the Oshawa candidates will be heading south down Simcoe Street to The Refuge Youth Outreach Centre.
This debate, set for Oct. 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Refuge at 300 Court St., will have questions gathered from those who use the facilities at the drop-in centre.
“Because of who we are, it’s going to be focused on questions that the youth have for the candidates…the past couple of days, I’ve gone around and asked the youth, ‘OK, what do you want to ask these guys? What do you want them to say or answer?’ and they’ve come up with a series of really good questions that focus on issues that are important to them,” Clarence Keesman, the centre’s director, tells The Oshawa Express. “We’re going to ask them those questions, and then open the floor for questions as well, and we’ll see how they respond.”
Keesman says he has received confirmation from Carrie, Marimpietri and Fowler that they will be in attendance, adding that Dempsey has not yet confirmed if he will be there or not.
Please see the next edition of The Oshawa Express for coverage of these debates, as well as information on more upcoming events.