Frame Lake Riding
Frame Lake – Monday, October 30th at 7-9pm at École William McDonald School Gym
Live stream is available on our Facebook event page (under Discussion).
Great Slave Riding
Great Slave – Friday, November 3rd at 6-8pm at École Sir John Franklin School Gym
Live stream is available on our Facebook Event page (under Discussion).
Kam Lake Riding
Kam Lake – CANCELLED (as riding acclaimed)
Range Lake Riding
Range Lake – Thursday, November 2nd at 7-9pm at Range Lake North School Gym
Live stream is available on our Facebook Event page (under Discussion).
Yellowknife Centre Riding
Yellowknife Centre – Wednesday, November 1st at 7-9pm at Mildred Hall School Gym
Live stream is available on our Facebook Event page (under Discussion).
Yellowknife North Riding
Yellowknife North – Sunday, October 29th at 7-9pm at Weledeh Catholic School Gym
Live stream is available on our Facebook Event page (under Discussion).
Yellowknife South Riding
Yellowknife South – CANCELLED (as riding acclaimed)
Submit a Question
Prior to the debate for your riding, you can submit questions you’re interested in hearing an answer. We might not ask your question directly, but as questions are developed any input from residents is taken into account so that we’re covering topics that you care most about. Sometimes we’ll rephrase things to fit the format, or to take into account multiple questions on a similar topic.
Just to note, at the debates there are no questions from the audience, although candidates may be available afterwards to talk!
All of the debates have happened so there’s nothing left to submit a question for!
Make sure you vote on November 14th!
FAQ
How will the debates work?
Each event will be run by a moderator who will keep the evening flowing, make sure candidates (mostly) stick to time limits and ask the questions.
The moderator will pick a question from a hat (either submitted and added to the hat in advance, or written in during the event), and then ask the candidates. Candidates will then get two minutes to respond to the question. Once all candidates have answered the question, there will be a second rebuttal round of one and a half minutes each. This gives candidates a chance to respond to the other candidates replies, or tell you more about their approach. Once everyone has had a chance to respond, the moderator will move on to the next question. For the rebuttal round, if the moderator thinks candidates need some prompting they make ask them a question to help direct the conversation.
At the end of the night candidates will have a chance to give a summary or concluding statement for about 2 minutes.
What do you mean by a rebuttal/follow-up?
In a traditional debates, participants make opening statements, and then go back and forth rebutting the other participants statements taking turns until the reach a conclusion. We didn’t think a formal debate would work very well for a candidate forum that has to accommodate anywhere from two to six participants, so we tweaked the idea.
Candidates are provided the opportunity to respond to the answers of the other candidates once everyone has given their first answer. Candidates can use this time to add information to their original answer, to respond to the replies of their fellow candidates, or to provide more details about what makes their response unique.
This is different than the traditional election forums held in Yellowknife so we’re excited to see how candidates in each riding take this opportunity to present themselves to voters in their potential ridings.
Why should I attend one of these debates?
If you’ve had candidates knocking on your door, received pamphlets or flyers and want to know more about the different candidates in your ridings and the different ways they want to handle the issues that are important to you this is the place to be.
These events are being run for the community so there is a chance to hear candidates debate answers to any questions that you might have. There is no required focus on a particular subject matter or organization, just the issues that matter to you when you head to the ballot box.
But I’m busy that night, how can I participate?
First, questions can be submitted in advance via the above form, the Facebook Event pages, or even by e-mail (to debates@opennwt.ca).
Then, each debate will be livestreamed to the Facebook Event page for live viewing from the comfort of your home, workplace or wherever you might be vacationing. If you can’t watch the events life, the video will be accessible on the event pages after the event.
How do I submit a question?
Scroll back up the page and fill out the form, that’s all it takes.
Why are you hosting these?
Because everyone loves a good debate? But really, the idea is to provide voters in each Yellowknife riding the opportunity to compare and contrast the candidates vying for their votes. Hosting the events in (or as close as possible to) each riding, focusing on one riding at a time, and structuring it in a debate format is a new approach that we hope provides candidates a fantastic opportunity to show you who they are, and gives voters new insights into the candidates.
Have you done these before?
We sure have! Way back in 2019 we launched the Community Debates as a fun experiment. It worked out well so we thought we’d do it again. Still interested in those 2019 events? They’re still available online! Visit our 2019 Debate page.
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at the debates!
The Community Debate Team