Leaders likely to play it safe in televised debate
Posted Apr 23, 2015 7:03 am.
Last Updated Apr 27, 2015 2:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Thursday night’s televised leaders’ debate could be a critical one, as Alberta’s party leaders are in a tight race to Election Day.
The PC’s Jim Prentice, the NDP’s Rachel Notley, the Wildrose’s Brian Jean, and the Liberals’ David Swann will go head to head at 6:30 p.m.
Quitto Maggi from Mainstreet Technologies expects the candidates will be sticking to their speaking points.
“It’s unusual to have what we call ‘the knockout punch’ in these types of debates,” Maggi said. “Usually, the formats and all that make it difficult.”
Maggi said 75 per cent of the population want a change of government, but a lower percentage think that there’s a viable alternative, and the NDP and Wildrose will likely try to step into that role.
Mount Royal University Political Scientist Lori Williams told City News, in an election as close as this one, where candidates aren’t as known, she expects to see more voters paying close attention.
“A lot of people are just curious, and this is just about the time in the campaign when people are starting to look a bit more carefully about what’s going on and thinking more carefully about how they’re going to vote,” Williams said.
Follow @660News on Twitter for live tweets of the debate so you can keep watching or listening to Stanley Cup hockey. Tune into 660News afterwards for a complete recap.
