Details released for Fernie Municipal Election All-Candidates Forum
The Fernie Chamber of Commerce is announcing full details for the Fernie Municipal Election All-Candidates Forum taking place on the evening of Tuesday 4 October 2022 at the Fernie Community Centre. All 14 candidates running for council and the 2 candidates running for mayor have confirmed their participation in this event.
This will be an in-person forum with a strict 400 person limit due to capacity at the venue. If the limit is reached, people will be turned away so please try to arrive promptly. The event will be filmed and a recording of the forum will be made available to the public to view on the Fernie Chamber website the following day, for those that can’t attend in person. The Fernie Chamber is unable to live-stream the evening due to the venue having no Wi-Fi.
The forum will be moderated by Glen Purdy (Q.C., M.S.M.) and the format of the forum including time limits and other rules is attached to this press release. Doors will open to the public at 6:00pm and the forum will commence at 6:30pm sharp.
Agenda for the evening:
6:00pm – Doors open
6:30pm – Forum commences (welcome, land acknowledgement, overview of format)
PART 1 – Council Candidates
6:40pm – Introduction from each council candidate (3 minutes each)
7:30pm – Questions to council candidates
8:00pm – Council portion concludes. 15-minute break.
PART 2 – Mayor Candidates
8:15pm – Introduction from each mayor candidate (5 minutes each)
8:25pm – Questions to mayor candidates
9:00pm – Closing statements (3 minutes each)
9:10pm – Adjournment
The general public can submit questions to be asked of candidates. For questions to be directed at council candidates, the public can email their question to election@ferniechamber.com with the deadline to submit council questions by Monday 3 October at 9:00am local time. These pre-submitted questions will be collated by the Fernie Chamber of Commerce and shortlisted to 14 questions that will be randomly asked to each of the 14 council candidates depending on what number they draw.
Questions for the mayor candidates will be submitted on the evening of the election forum in writing. Questions can be submitted to the Fernie Chamber of Commerce forum committee between 6:00pm (when doors open) and 7:30pm. The questions for mayor candidates will be collated by the Fernie Chamber and given to the moderator. The moderator will then direct each question to one or both candidates, at his discretion. Duplicate questions or recurring themes may be streamlined into one question.
Council candidates will have 1 minute to answer their questions. Mayor candidates will have 2 minutes to answer their questions. Rebuttal opportunities will be given to each candidate as per the attached rules.
Brad Parsell (Executive Director of the Fernie Chamber) explains, “We are looking forward to a respectful and constructive all-candidates forum that will help the citizens of Fernie make an informed choice during this municipal election. Every effort will be made by the moderator to ensure a balance of questions and time given to each candidate. We reiterate that the Fernie Chamber of Commerce is a non-partisan organization and we do not support any candidate over another.”
Rules & Format
5:30pm – Candidates allowed into Community Centre. There will be tables at the back of the room
for candidate information (hand-outs, flyers, etc).
5:45pm – Candidates must be on-site, pre-event briefing, council candidates draw for question
number, all candidates draw for order of opening remarks.
6:00pm – Doors open to the public.
6:30pm – Forum commences with welcome and introductions. Brief explanation of format and rules.
PART 1 – COUNCIL CANDIDATES
6:40pm – Council candidate introductions. 3 minutes for each candidate to introduce themselves and their platforms. Order of speaking determined by draw. A warning bell will be heard 15 seconds prior to the allocated time for each candidate.
7:30pm – Each council candidate to be asked a unique pre-submitted question from the public. 2 minutes for each candidate to answer. Question order determined by draw. There will be no questions from the floor for council candidates. A warning bell will be heard 15 seconds prior to the allocated time for each candidate.
Each candidate will be given 1 rebuttal card. 30 seconds will be given each time a rebuttal card is used in response to another candidates’ answer. A warning bell will be heard 15 seconds prior to the allocated time for each candidate.
8:10pm – Council candidate portion concludes.
10 minute break while stage is reset for mayor candidates.
PART 2 – MAYOR CANDIDATES
8:20pm – Mayor candidate introductions. 5 minutes for each mayor candidate to introduce themselves and their platforms. Order of speaking determined by draw. A warning bell will be heard 15 seconds prior to the allocated time for each candidate.
8:30pm – Mayor candidates field questions from the floor. 2 minutes for each candidate to answer. A warning bell will be heard 15 seconds prior to the allocated time for each candidate.
Each mayor candidate will be given 2 rebuttal cards. 1 minute will be given each time a rebuttal card is used in response to another candidates’ answer. A warning bell will be heard 15 seconds prior to the allocated time for each candidate.
All questions from the floor will be submitted in writing and asked by the moderator.
Moderator will direct the question to one or both candidates, at his discretion.
9:00pm – 3 minutes closing statement for each candidate in reverse order to opening.
9:10pm – Closing remarks from moderator and adjournment.
Items to note:
• Candidates to arrive promptly as instructed so the forum runs on time.
• There will be no closing remarks for council candidates.
• Every effort will be made to ensure a balance of questions and time given to each candidate.
• There are many candidates running this election and a short amount of time. We ask for candidates to adhere to the format and rules explained above and stick to the times allotted.
• Candidates are to RSVP to the Executive Director of the Fernie Chamber to indicate their participation in the forum no later than Tuesday 27 September 2022 at 5:00pm local time.
