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Federal commission announces group that will produce election leaders’ debates

Jul 31, 2019 | 10:01 AM

OTTAWA — A group of media companies will collaborate to produce the federal leaders’ debates during the upcoming election campaign.

The Leaders’ Debates Commission says the Canadian Debate Production Partnership will put together one English and one French debate.

Commissioner David Johnston says the events will take place during the second week of October in the national capital region.

The production group includes broadcasters CBC News/Radio-Canada, Global, and CTV; newspapers Toronto Star, Le Devoir and the magazine L’Actualite; and digital outlets La Presse, HuffPost Canada and HuffPost Quebec.

The commission says the debates will be free to access and distribute, with the intention of ensuring broad access.

In previous years, debates were traditionally organized by a consortium of broadcasters, but the last election saw significant controversy over the attendance of national party leaders.

The Canadian Press