B.C. Votes 2017: CBC streaming leaders debate live on Facebook, cbc.ca/bc

The date for the only televised,prime timeB.C. leaders debate of the campaignis here.

B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark, B.C. NDP Leader JohnHorganand B.C. Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver will face off on April26 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. PT.

Watch the livestream on cbc.ca/bc or CBC Vancouver's Facebookpage and then after the hockey game at 8 p.m. on CBC television.

It's a pressure-cooker audition where solid performances and unscripted moments can inspire voters and shift campaigns.

Christy Clark's Liberals have mounted a largely stay-the-course campaign so far, highlighting their stewardship of Canada's top-performing economy and posting five consecutive balanced budgets.

The New Democrats under John Horgan are trying to persuade voters that after 16 years of Liberal governments, British Columbia needs a change, running on the slogan that NDP will run a government that's on the side of the little guy and not beholden to corporations and wealthy individual donors.

Green Leader Andrew Weaver said he plans to stick to the issues and stay away from the acrimonious exchanges between Horgan and Clark that were featured in last week's radio debate.

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"I'm looking forward to that clash," said Weaver, a climate scientist and university professor. "But I will not degrade the debate to the level of personal insults."

The radio debate might be remembered for a moment when Horgan asked Clark not to touch him after she put her hand on his arm and told him to calm down. Weaver, meanwhile, raised his hand to get the moderator's attention.

"I love to debate policy," said Weaver. "I found that debate utterly disrespectful between the two leaders. We're not going to go down that rabbit hole. We'll let them fight it out."

Voting in B.C. - What do I need to know?

7 years ago

Duration 1:59

The provincial election is coming up on May 9.

NDP: 'Debates matter and performance matters'

The event will be hosted by the B.C. Broadcast Consortium and moderated by CTV anchor and former CBC host Jennifer Burke.

Leaders will speak on a "wide range of topics"during the discussion and answer questions sent in by BritishColumbians. Afterwards, they'll take questions about their performance at a media conference.

The New Democrats say the debate is an important event in the campaign leading up to the May 9 election.

"Debates matter and the performance matters," said Glen Sanford, the NDP's deputy director. "It's the time when British Columbians will really tune into the campaign."

On Sunday, Clark said she's optimistic about her party's chances but acknowledged the race still has a long way to go.

"There's a reason there are 28 days in a campaign, because we spend every day talking about the things that we stand for and the things that we believe in," Clark said.

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Norman Ruff, a retired political scientist, said most people don't watch an entire debate but the sound bites and news stories about its defining moments could dominate the campaign for days.

He said the Liberals are courting danger by running the same steady-as-she-goes campaign as they did in 2013.

But Ruff said the mood for change in B.C. does not appear to be as large of a factor as it was in 1991 when the Social Credit dynasty was defeated by the New Democrats or in 2001 when the Liberals decimated the NDP.

He described the political mood at those times as one of "revulsion."

"I don't think that the Clark government has really crossed the line and lost legitimacy in the way the Socreds did and the NDP did," he said. "Yet things could still change."

CBC Vancouver is part of a broadcast consortium hosting the 2017 BC Leaders debateApril26from6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. PT.This will be the only live inprime timetelevised debate of the campaign and your chance to see the leaders together.