(OTTAWA) The Conservative Party of Canada is moving forward with a third candidates’ debate in the leadership race, which will be streamed online on August 3.
Posted at 2:15 p.m.
The party informed its members of the date of the new debate in an email Thursday evening. Candidate Pierre Poilievre had earlier announced that he would not be there, and another aspirant, Leslyn Lewis, expressed reservations on Thursday.
The Poilievre team said the candidate is focused on “getting the vote out” of his supporters before the September deadline. Mme Lewis, meanwhile, says her schedule is already full of meetings with party members.
According to the Conservative Party’s statutes, candidates are required to attend official debates or face a $50,000 fine.
A party spokesperson said the exact format for that third debate was yet to be decided. Campaign teams expect the event to take place in Ottawa.
The candidates have already taken part in two official debates in May, one in English in Edmonton and the other in French in Laval. The campaign teams had however been informed by party authorities that there could be a third official debate at the beginning of August.
Members of the Leader’s Choice Organizing Committee met on Wednesday evening and finally decided to hold a third official debate, after a survey of members. Party spokesman Yaroslav Baran said 24,000 members responded “overwhelmingly” in favor of a third debate.