Leaders to face off in October

OTTAWA — Canadians will get to hear directly from the candidates vying to become prime minister in two official debates slated for the second week in October.

The independent Leaders’ Debates Commission, which oversees two official debates during the election period, announced Wednesday that a partnership of media organizations will produce the debates, one in each of Canada’s official languages.

The partnership, which includes the Toronto Star, will provide free access and distribution for the debates, which will be broadcast in English and French, some Indigenous languages, as well as Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi and Italian.

Former governor general David Johnston, the commissioner for the leaders’ debates, said that the media partnership will be able to reach a broad audience across Canada.

Spokesperson Jill Clark said the commission will make another announcement in the coming weeks about which leaders will be eligible to participate.

“The final decision is in Commissioner Johnson’s hands, and we want to make sure that these decisions are not being made hastily or without careful research and thought,” Clark said.

“We’re making sure that once the announcement does come, that it’s something that has been given a lot of thought to and is considerate.”

The Leaders’ Debates Commission was created by the Liberal government to organize two official debates during the election period. After perennial arguments about which leaders should and should not appear in the debates, the commission’s mandate sets out criteria that each party must meet for its leader to appear on stage.

A party must satisfy two of three tests:

Have an elected member of Parliament under the party’s banner at the time the election is called;

Intend to run candidates in at least 90 per cent of ridings

Received at least four per cent of the popular vote in the last election or, in the opinion of the debates commissioner, have a legitimate chance to be elected in the coming election.