Voters on the North Coast will get their first and only local opportunity to find all eight candidates in the Skeena-Bulkley Valley election race in the same place tonight; that as the Lester Centre of the Arts plays host to tonights Prince Rupert All Candidates Forum.
The evening hosted by the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce will provide an opportunity for the candidates to share their campaign themes and viewpoints with the audience at the Lester Centre, as well as to meet with them informally prior to and and after the formal forum event takes place.
Tonight's event starts at 7 PM, with the doors set to open at 6:30.
Some of the themes we may see on the evening include a range of topics on the environment, from the fate of the oil tanker moratorium, to pipelines crossing the riding and even the prospects for LNG development.
With Kitimat now the centre for the LNG industry and the five major LNG projects proposed for Prince Rupert now long off the planning table, residents of the region may want to hear whether the candidates believe that there is a future for Prince Rupert in that industry.
The recent test shipment of bitumen by way of a container may also make for an interesting topic if raised, allowing the candidates to state what they think of the prospect of new initiatives such as the test shipment and how it may change the nature of how the resource industry is viewed.
On the theme of transportation, what protection the candidates may believe is necessary for the rail corridor between Alberta and Prince Rupert could be of some interest, with the transportation of propane and other cargo growing by the month.
Housing issues are always a theme for North Coast residents and with the city still trying to come to some kind of solution to the affordability issues in the region, learning more about how the various candidates may view the issues of housing in the region may be helpful to the debate.The same would go for infrastructure issues, with the City of Prince Rupert facing some serious challenges in replacing aging waterlines and repairing bridges, how the candidates may view the distribution of federal money towards those elements could be instructive.
How each views themes of reconciliation and engagement with the many First Nations of the region should make for a topic of some note, particularly in areas of shared resources and approaches towards governance of each community.
Marine rescue and protection themes might be an area to be explored, particularly whether the candidates believe that an expanded Coast Guard and Naval presence might be valuable to the coastal region.
And a stop in Prince Rupert surely will put some focus on the fate of the North Coast fishery, which has just suffered one of its toughest years and at times seems all but forgotten by the Federal government.
Whether any of those themes make the list for tonight, or if some others jump to the top will all unfold at 7 PM as the candidates take to the Lester Stage.
For those that can't make it to the Lester Centre for this evening's forum the event will be broadcast by CityWest on Channels 10 and 310HD and streamed live through their Facebook portal.
Tonight marks the first of a number of similar forums to take place across the Northwest, with the Terrace and Kitimat forums also to be broadcast and streamed live.
Should you need a refresher on all of the talking points, CityWest plans on a Candidates Forum marathon on October 19th.
You can review all of their broadcast plans here.
For a look at some of the themes of the campaign to this point see our archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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