The Battlefords Chamber of Commerce has set Wednesday, Oct. 19 as the date for a candidates reception for the municipal election.
It is to be held at the Balych Mural Meeting Room in the Chamber’s offices at the corner of Highways 16 and 40, North Battleford, between 7 and 9 p.m.
This election event will be considerably different from all-candidates meetings the Chamber has hosted in the past.
Instead of a public forum with questions and answers, this event will be business-focused and aimed at Chamber members and those in the business community who have been invited to attend.
According to the announcement by the Chamber, the plan is for acclaimed mayor-elect Ryan Bater of North Battleford and Battleford mayoralty candidates David George and Ames Leslie, to address members.
Council candidates will be available to mingle and share their views of the election issues and their reasons for seeking office. There will also be an opportunity for the Chamber to interact with them and provide information about their issues and about the business community.
Machniak said the new format evolved from a desire to do something different and more business-focused after holding public election forums this past year.
“We’ve just come through a federal election and a provincial election in the last 12 months, and we did candidate forums for both of those,” said Machniak. The thinking was “to try something new.”
This particular format “is a combination of ones that we‘ve heard of that have been successful in other locations.”
Machniak said they will “see how it goes” this time around. She says candidates have been enthusiastic and say they will be participating.
“The response from candidates has been really good as far as attendance goes,” Machniak said.
