City Council Debate Forum
Tuesday, October 6th at 7-9pm at École William McDonald School Gym
Live stream will available on our Facebook event page (under Discussion).
Submit a Question
Prior to the event, you can submit questions or issues 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 cover 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.
Due to the number of candidates we have to be creative with the format and make things work so questions likely won’t be verbatim.
Just to note, at the debates there are no questions from the audience, although candidates may be available afterwards to talk!
Submit your questions or topics of interest to debates@openwnt.ca.
Make sure you vote on October 19th!
FAQ
How will the event work?
The 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.
Candidates will each get a brief introduction, then there will be a question for each candidate to answer (don’t worry not the exact same question for 21 people to answer!). Candidates will then get to respond to the question. Once we’ve finished the question round each candidate will have the opporunity for a closing statement or response or rebuttal or just to tell you why you should support them.
This gives all candidates a chance to highlight what makes them unique and their key positions.
Is this the same as the YK Debates format for Territorial Elections?
No… sadly, we’d love to, but with 21 candidates it’s just not feasible to have an evening of debate and rebuttal unless we all wanted to settle in until midnight.
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 or watch?
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, the event 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 our votes. With the number of candidates running, we felt that some venue to see and meet all of the candidates would serve us best.
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 in 2023. Still interested in those territorial events? They’re still available online! Visit our 2019 Debate or 2023 Debate pages.
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at the debates!
The Community Debate Team