Living Green, Barrie Chamber offer chance to hear mayoral hopefuls

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From BarrieToday, Sep 7, 2022

Living Green Barrie has announced it will be hosting a mayoral debate on the environment next month.

The debate will be moderated by former Ontario environmental commissioner Gord Miller and will be held on Zoom. It is being held in partnership with the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition.

The debate is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 6, beginning at 7 p.m. A Living Green official said Tuesday that five of the seven mayoral candidates have confirmed their attendance.

To submit an environment-related question in advance or to register to attend, e-mail ptretter@livinggreen.info by Tuesday, Sept. 27.

The Barrie Chamber of Commerce will also host its mayoral ‘Meet the Candidates’ evening on Wednesday, Sept. 28 starting at 6 p.m. at the Barrie Royal Canadian Legion, located at 410 St. Vincent St.

The chamber says all seven certified candidates have been invited to attend. Running for mayor are Andrew Gordon, Weldon Hachey, Rob Haverson, Gerry Marshall, Mike McCann, Alex Nuttall, and Barry Ward.

For the chamber event, doors open at 6 p.m., followed by a welcoming address at 6:15 p.m., and candidate speeches beginning at 6:20 p.m.

Each candidate will be given an equal opportunity to speak for a predetermined amount of time. The chamber points out this is not a debate, so there will be no Q&A from the audience.

Following the candidates’ speeches, attendees are invited downstairs for an informal meet-and-greet.

“As a non-partisan organization, the Barrie Chamber is dedicated to providing community members with the information they need in order to make the best decisions for themselves and their businesses on election day. Members of the public are encouraged to attend and meet their candidates for the 2022 Barrie municipal election,” the chamber said in a news release.

In preparation for the 2022 municipal election, the Barrie Chamber of Commerce says it has also created a Municipal Election Platform document, which “encompasses the concerns of the business community and public in general. We believe that our incoming mayor and city council will be most effective by committing to these issues.”

The chamber says it will be providing light refreshments and the bar will be open to help support the legion. Candidates for ward councillor are also welcome to attend, but nothing has been formally organized for them to speak.

Registration to attend the chamber event can be done by clicking here.

The municipal election takes place Oct. 24.

Read the article here