HUMBOLDT — Three opportunities are coming to find out more about the candidates running in the provincial and civic elections.
The Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce will host a provincial all-candidates forum on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m., a Humboldt councillor all-candidates forum on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m., and a mayoral all-candidates forum on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.
“It's really important that the people who are going to be hitting the polls have an opportunity to hear the candidates in our area, give [the audience] their perspective on what they can do and what they can bring to the table,” said Brent Fitzpatrick, the chamber’s executive director.
All three forums will be hosted on the chamber’s Facebook page, as provincial health restrictions would make an in-person event difficult.
“For us it's a very innovative way. We're having the candidates in a Zoom meeting and then we're broadcasting that by live event on Facebook,” Fitzpatrick said. “I'm quite looking forward to it. It's an exciting thing for me.”
Running for the constituency of Humboldt-Watrous are Rose Buscholl with the Progressive Conservative, Donna Harpauer with the Saskatchewan Party, Constance Maffenbeier with the Buffalo Party, Wendy Sekulich with the NDP and Jim Ternier with the Green Party.
There are 14 people running for councillor in Humboldt.
“That one's going to be a bit of a challenge because in order to give everybody a couple of minutes to chat, it’ll eat up a lot of time. When you've got something like a Facebook Live event, you don't want it to drag on forever,” Fitzpatrick said.
“I think it's going to become more of an informational event, just an opportunity for people to talk about what they bring to the table, ask a couple of questions, and then a wrap up.”
Three are running for mayor in Humboldt: Michael Behiel, Harley Bentley and Lorne Pratchler.
“That gives us a bit more flexibility to ask some deeper questions,” Fitzpatrick said, adding that because the chamber is hosting the forum, they really want to talk about items like business, economic development and taxes.
“I really think it's an opportunity for people – for business people in particular – to ask questions about the people that will be representing them.”
