At least three federal Conservative candidates have opted out of local debates hosted by Hamilton broadcaster Cable 14.
Hamilton East – Stoney Creek Conservative candidate Ned Kuruc appeared to indicate that he opted out of the debate in favour of door knocking, noting that he has knocked on 95,000 doors and has been campaigning one-on-one with voters since January 2024.
He commented that he answers directly to residents at their doors and has “heard their stories,” which include “families struggling to get by, small business owners drowning in red tape, and young people losing hope they’ll ever own a home.”
In Kuruc’s case, the Hamilton East – Stoney Creek debate was ultimately cancelled, with the NDP and Green Party candidates also declining to participate.
Flamborough – Glanbrook – Brant North Conservative candidate Dan Muys has also opted out of the Cable 14 debate, which was held Thurs, Apr. 24, because he was attending the Hamilton Jewish Federation’s Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration event, which he says he “agreed to a month ago.”
He notes that he has already participated in two local debates.
One debate he attended was in Paris, Ontario, in his riding and hosted by the County of Brant Chamber of Commerce, Brant County Federation of Agriculture, Grand Erie Elementary Teachers’ Federation, and the Paris Agricultural Society.
The other debate was an all-party forum hosted by the Hamilton Muslim Association.
Muys adds that he has been having “direct conversations” with residents at their doors.
He also says that “only a handful of homes in Flamborough – Glanbrook – Brant North get Cable 14.”
At this point, the debates are only available live, with recordings not posted online until Saturday, according to Cable 14 General Manager Jonathan Freedman. However, that is just two days before the federal election.
Hamilton West – Ancaster – Dundas Conservative candidate Erika Alexander, who is the granddaughter of the Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander, also opted out of the Cable 14 debate, telling The Hamilton Spectator that she is door-knocking “12 hours a day.”
The Hamilton Centre debate will be held on Friday, Apr. 25 at 6 p.m. It is unclear if Conservative candidate Hayden Lawrence will be attending.
Hamilton Mountain Conservative candidate and former Haldimand County Mayor Ken Hewitt attended his riding’s debate, facing off against NDP candidate Monique Taylor and Liberal candidate Lisa Hepfner.
It is unclear whether or not any candidates were instructed by their party not to attend the Cable 14 debates.
Sometimes parties prevent candidates from attending their local debates in order to ensure that they have more control over party messaging.
The Liberal Party has already had a number of gaffes that have gone viral on social media as a result of their local candidates attending debates.
For example, Lorna Jean Edmonds, the Liberal candidate for Leeds – Grenville – Thousand Islands, said at a debate, “I’m not going to unequivocally say that we won’t see a carbon tax again.”
It should also be noted that the Cable 14 debates involve media questions from only three news organizations – The Hamilton Spectator, CBC Hamilton, and CHCH News – which could factor into some Conservative candidates’ decision not to attend the event.
The Hamilton Spectator is a left-leaning newspaper that has endorsed the Trudeau Liberals in the past, while the left-leaning CBC went so far as to sue the Conservative Party of Canada in 2019 in the midst of a federal election campaign.
The CBC lawsuit, which was for copyright infringement, was ultimately dismissed.
Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre has also pledged to defund the CBC, changing English-language programming to be a self-sufficient media organization that is a “not-for-profit and supported by listeners, donations, sponsorships, ad revenue, and licensing revenue.”
To understand where the various political parties stand, voters can watch the federal Leaders Debate here.
Additionally, the Conservative Party platform can be found here, while the Liberal Party platform can be found here.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
