The St. Paul & District Chamber of Commerce is giving residents the opportunity to ask questions to political candidates, at two election forums taking place on Sept. 27 and Oct. 4.
“If a councillor hasn’t been out to your area, or the reeve or mayor, sometimes it’s the only opportunity you have to meet them,” said Linda Sallstrom, executive director of the chamber, of the forums, and the chance it gives residents to hear from the candidates directly.
The County of St. Paul political forum will take place tomorrow on Sept. 27, with the Town of St. Paul forum to take place the following Wednesday, Oct. 4.
Nearly every seat in the County of St. Paul is up for contention, with incumbent Steve Upham facing off against former Public Works superintendent Leo deMoissac and Division 1 councillor Glen Ockerman for the Reeve at Large position, while 12 candidates will vie for Division 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 seats. Only Division 6 is uncontested, with incumbent Laurent Amyotte in by acclamation.
In the Town of St. Paul, Mayor Glenn Andersen will run against Maureen Miller to keep his mayor’s chair, with 14 candidates – including all the incumbents - running for the six seats on town council.
Given the extensive number of people running for office in both the Town and County of St. Paul, Sallstrom said all candidates will be given a quick two minutes to introduce themselves, before proceeding to questions that must be submitted in writing. Sallstrom said this is to vet questions for clarity and substance, and to enable moderator Kevin Bernhardt to get through as many questions as possible.
People can direct the question to a specific candidate or candidates, or leave it open to anyone to answer. The Q & A portion will be allotted an hour, with candidates having some time at the end to make closing remarks.
Both forums begin at 7 p.m. at the St. Paul Recreation Centre and run until 9:15 p.m., with coffee and refreshments served.
Sallstrom invited people to be part of the political process, saying, “I think the more people are involved in local government, the better it operates. It’s that engagement piece. They are our representatives. If people don’t ask them to represent, it’s kind of a flawed system.”
