Government aims to have independent body organize leaders’ debates by 2019

LONDON, Ont. — The Trudeau government intends to create an independent body to organize leaders’ debates during federal elections — and hopes to have it in place in time for the 2019 campaign. Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould is inviting people to provide ideas for how an arm’s-length, election debate commissioner or commission should work. She’s giving them until Feb. 9 to provide online feedback. Over the next few weeks, she’ll also be holding roundtable discussions across the country with academics, media leaders and public interest groups, to be moderated by the Institute for Research on Public Policy. The issue is also currently being studied by a House of Commons committee.