Tory Candidates Blowing off Forums

Calgary Center North is perhaps not a battleground, being part of the Conservative Calgary Bastion, but outgoing MP Jim Prentice's riding is somewhat up for grabs.  Except the PC Candidate replacing him, Ms. Michelle Rempel doesn't seem to think so.

Rempel skipped the second debate now, the first time at the University of Calgary, the second now at an all-candidates forum at a Church.  While the constituents who attended were angry, they were not without a sense of humor, as a potted plant was left out in place of the missing Candidate.  And an organizer stated "The plant is of course welcome back at any time,"

Rempel is not the first Albertan candidate to boycott forums either.  Nicole recently brought across my desk this second article about Lethbridge's Tory Candidate, Jim Hillyer's decision to boycott all remaining forums.  While it's hard to say what kind of effect these decisions will directly have upon their possible candidacy, Mr Burles, who wrote the article and questioned several phone in callers about it, said constituents were unilaterally upset by the decison.

Calgary Nose Hill Candidate Diane Ablonczy has also indicated she will boycott all-candidate forums.

And locally for Edmonton?  The Upcoming Wrecking Ball night at the Avenue Theatre has stated that all candidates will be on hand except for the Conservative one.  The Conservatives are clearly running their campaign in a bubble, candidates are not operating with the same transparency as many other party members.

Will this have an effect on election day?  Hard to say, but we'll watch as it unfolds.

Below, Alheli Picazo has also compiled a list of candidates across the country who have indicated they will boycott forums, or non-scripted events.  Interestingly, and unsurprisingly they are all PC candidates except for one.


CBC Article on Skipped Forum
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2011/04/20/calgary-rempel-forum-skipped.html

Country 95 about Jim Hillyer
http://www.country95.fm/news/news-detail.asp?ID=3909

Alheli Picazo has compiled a list of PC Members refusing to take part in unscripted events.
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/apicazo/2011/04/election-2011-debate-absenteeism

Wrecking Ball Event Page
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=192015364175843&ref=ts

EDIT:
A slightly more comprehensive list from the CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2011/04/all-candidate-no-shows-stop-me-if-youve-heard-this-one-before.html