Chamber of Commerce cancels Winnipeg mayoral debate

Incumbent Brian Bowman's insistence on only attending mayoral debates where all candidates are invited has led the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce to cancel its debate this fall.

Incumbent Brian Bowman will only attend forums with all candidates, but chamber wanted only frontrunners

Bartley Kives CBC News Posted: Sep 20, 2018 4:40 PM EDT | Last Updated: September 20, 2018

Seven out of eight Winnipeg mayoral candidates attended a forum at the University of Winnipeg on Monday. The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce has cancelled a debate it had planned for Oct. 19. (John Einarson/CBC)

Incumbent Brian Bowman's insistence on only attending mayoral debates where all candidates are invited has led the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce to cancel its debate this fall.

The chamber planned to hold a mayoral debate on Oct. 19. That event has been replaced with an Oct. 10 speech by federal Innovation MinisterNavdeepBains, chamber president LorenRemillardtold his members via email.

Remillardsaid thecancellationwas due to the chamber's inability to secure the leading candidates.

A Probe Research poll commissioned byCBCNews and conducted in late August suggested only Bowman and business consultant JennyMotkalukenjoy the support of more than one per cent of voters.

"Our priority is to provide you Chamber members with the highest standard of programming. This unwavering commitment has informed The Chamber's long-standing practice of extending election debate invitations tofrontrunnercandidates only,"Remillardsaid in his letter.

"Logistics, including the fixed time frame of a lunch-hour event, shape the format that we feel best enables candidates to provide the deep dive into issues that members have come to expect at Chamber debates.

"This commitment, coupled with the inability to secure the full participation of the leading candidates to facilitate this format, has led to our decision."

Mayoral race takes on slightly more fowl tone

Motkalukhas been chiding Bowman for weeks about his insistence on onlyattending debates where all the candidates are present.

Her campaign called the chamber's decision disappointing and blamed Bowman.

"If you are going to sit as a Mayor of this great city you should have the fortitude to defend your policies and vision especially at times of election.Winnipeggersdeserve to have the major issues aired publicly so they can speak to it at the polls," her campaign said in a statement.

There are eight candidates running in the mayoral race.

Winnipeggers will vote on Oct. 24.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News

Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|