Full house hears, questions Surrey federal candidates

Kwantlen’s first all-candidates federal election forum was held Monday night in Surrey with a full house of more than 200 students, instructors and community residents.

The forum, organized by the school’s criminology department as part of its Hear the Candidates, Make Up Your Own Mind series, was set up like a town hall meeting so those in attendance could direct questions to the panel of politicians.

Wade Deisman, criminology instructor and coordinator of the event, said it was an “awesome” experience for those in attendance.

“Elections are an opportunity for there to be substantive proposals for change,” he said, adding that he hoped meeting with candidates face-to-face would facilitate that.

The 12 hopeful MPs in attendance each had five minutes for opening comments, which was followed by questions from the audience. Topics raised by candidates varied greatly, but the future of post-secondary education dominated discussion.

Many people waited in line for more than an hour to ask their question, and Deisman said that for his students asking questions about criminal justice issues, it often wasn’t worth the wait. “Nobody responded to the issue in any kind of concrete sense.”

All major parties had representatives at the event, with two Liberals, one Conservative, two NDPers and one Green there to explain and defend party policies.

Fringe paries were also represented, with candidates from the Canadian Action Party, the Progressive Canadian Party, the Christian Heritage Party and the Communist Party. Two independents were there as well.

Deisman said that once the forums concluded, the criminology department would try and stay in contact with the candidates to follow their policies on criminal justice issues. He added that they hoped to put on a similar event for the next provincial election.

An all-candidates forums was also be held in the Richmond Conference Centre Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. and the third in the series will be held at the Langley Auditorium Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.