Ahead of all elections, at all levels, the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce hosts an all-candidate forum to allow for the business community, and the general public, to ask questions of those who are running for office in the Weyburn area. Last night, the Chamber held the forum for the five candidates who have put their names forward to run in the provincial election, in the riding of Weyburn-Bengough.
Of the five candidates invited, Andrew Schainada of the Buffalo Party, Michael Weger of the Saskatchewan Party, North Hunter of the Green Party, and Rose McInnes of the Sask United Party took to the stage. The NDP candidate, Seth Lendrum, was not in attendance.
For the first time in nearly 20 years, all of the candidates who are on the ballot are in Weyburn for the first time. The executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, Monica Osborn, noted this means the candidates are all on the same playing field.
“None of them have been MLAs; they have not had the experience,” Osborn said. “To be able to provide this platform for them, I think it is important because it is their first step as to what is the next step to become an MLA. They’re going to have to be prepared for hard questions. They’re going to have to be prepared for crowds and circumstances, and they’re going to have to deliver the answers to some of those.”
Despite a number of other events happening in Weyburn last night, there was a solid turn out at the Weyburn Legion for the forum. With questions posed by the business community, and the general public, Osborn felt the forum went well.
“I think all the candidates came prepared,” Osborn commented. “The questions that were proposed by the Weyburn Chamber, and on behalf of our members, they delivered their messages that were from each party, and they delivered them well, so hopefully the information that was provided tonight will help inform our voters.”
The questions that came from the general public centred around one aspect – youth. The candidates were asked how they would engage the youth more in politics, and what sort of community and recreational services their party would provide for youth in Weyburn.
Osborn explained these questions were important to pose to the candidates, as the youth will be our next leaders so having them engaged in the process is crucial.
While the format of the forum, with a hard end time of 8:30 p.m. to allow for clean up of the venue, didn’t sit well with a small number of people in attendance, for most the forum was a welcome opportunity to hear from candidates. It included many of the candidates taking a few moments to chat with some of the public afterwards about specific issues, and to answer further questions.
The forum will be made available online through the Chamber of Commerce YouTube page in the coming days.