September 20, 2015 | News
An unexpected successful Ville-Marie All Candidates Debate was held in Dawson College last Sept. 16, 2015. The 5B.16 Hall was surprisingly packed with more than 300 students, faculty and staff that date for the debate. The number of people was very unexpected that all seats were taken and the staff had to bring more of them into the hall.
The debate was presented by the Law, Society and Justice Profile and the Political Science Department and was moderated by Chris Bourne, a Political Science Faculty, who seemed to know how to make the audience laugh. “Unfortunately, the Conservative Party of Canada is not present. I’m not sure what he’s afraid of,” he said when he introduced Steve Shanahan, who came after.
From left to right in the photo are Daniel Green of Green Party of Canada, Simon Marchand of Bloc Québécois, Marc Miller of Liberal Party of Canada, Allison Turner of New Democratic Party and Steve Shanahan of Conservative Party of Canada. Each gave an overview about themselves and their parties’ platforms, highlighting more youth issues, for five minutes.
It was followed by a question and answer period. The students, faculty and staff were welcomed to ask questions, but students were prioritized. Students formed a fairly long line but not all of them were able to ask their questions due to a time limit. The debate went on for only an hour and 15 minutes.
For sure, teachers from Political Science Department have required their students to attend the debate. Nonetheless, it was undeniable that most of the students were very interested in Canadian political issues and election. According to government statistics, in the 2011 general election, only 38.8% of electors aged 18-24 voted. It might increase in this year’s election knowing youth are getting more interested with these matters in the country.