Candidates Debate Coming To Portage

There's an all candidates forum coming up this week at Eagles Fire Youth Centre in Portage la Prairie.

The event is being hosted by the Portage Friendship Centre and the Manitoba Metis Federation, and Metis Federation Portage Local Vice-chair  Landeyn Aymont outlines some details.

"We contacted the 3 candidates that are involved in the election, and the only one who can't make it is the NDP Candidate, so the other two are going to be there. It's going to be a debate format, and it should be an interesting night. We're going to be taking questions from the crowd, we're going to have a few prepared questions, but not many. It'll hopefully be a lot of crowd interaction and get a lot of participation from them."

Friendship Centre Executive Director Shirley Bernard encourages young people to take in the event.

"We're pretty much focusing on the youth, we're encouraging our youth to come out. Our youth are our future, so we want them to come out because a lot of them aren't political, they don't know a lot of things that are happening. Maybe they can come out -- if they're too shy to ask questions -- they can sit there and listen and we can educate each other. They are our future, and they need to come out there. Even if they come out for a coffee and a snack, sit there and listen and we're good with that."

Bernard says urban aboriginals should definitely take in the event.

"We don't have our questions in order yet either, but aboriginal issues are so large. We have so many issues, specifically funding. Right now in the new fiscal year, our funding, we don't get the funding that the First Nation's Reserves get, or the Manitoba Metis Federation gets, we're urban aboriginals and we're unique to that. Our issues are great, and our funding is low."

Refreshments will be served at 6 Thursday evening, with the debate starting at 6:30.