Candidates from all the major provincial political parties in the Nickel Belt and Sudbury electoral districts have been invited to attend a public meeting at the Northbury Hotel on May 18.
The event is being hosted by the local chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP), with members from Friendly to Seniors, the Sudbury Arts Council and the Greater Sudbury Watershed Alliance also expected to attend.
Candidates from the Liberal, Progressive Conservative, NDP and Green parties have been invited to attend, and the event will begin at 2 p.m.
Sudbury.com will be livestreaming this event.
In a media release issued by CARP, it’s noted that candidates will have the opportunity for opening and closing remarks and to answer questions from those in attendance. Candidates for other parties, while not invited to speak, will have a table for material, and can meet with those who are interested.
All are welcome to attend the event, at which there will be no restrictions. That said, pandemic measures as mandated and in effect by the hotel at that time would apply.
“There is no shortage of matters that candidates can address,” CARP noted in their release. “It is expected that housing, health, the environment, arts and education issues, all of provincial interest and responsibility will be paramount.”
Invited Nickel Belt candidates include Glenys Babcock (Green), Randy Hazlett (Progressive Conservative), France Gélinas (NDP) and Gilles Proulx (Liberal).
Sudbury candidates invited to participate include Jamie West (NDP), David Robinson (Green), David Farrow (Liberal) and Marc Despatie (Progressive Conservative).
All of these candidates were also invited to take part in the May 11 and 12 virtual debates hosted by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, but Babcock, Hazlett and Despatie were not in attendance.
Both Progressive Conservative candidates had previously indicated that they were attend, but later withdrew their participation, a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce spokesperson clarified to Sudbury.com.
CARP last hosted a candidates meeting in late August of last year in advance of the federal election. The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 76 building was almost packed at the time, with few vacant seats.
