Federal byelection candidates face Dover Bay students in Nanaimo

Five candidates in the upcoming federal byelection for Nanaimo-Ladysmith take questions from students at Dover Bay Secondary School in Nanaimo Tuesday. Photo courtesy Twitter/School District 68.

With a federal byelection less than a week away, candidates for the Nanaimo-Ladysmith seat in Ottawa made their pitch to many future voters Tuesday morning.

Five candidates took part in a candidates debate held at Dover Bay Secondary School in Nanaimo.

Michelle Corfield (Liberal Party), Paul Manly (Green Party), John Hirst (Conservative Party), Jennifer Clarke (People’s Party of Canada) and Bob Chamberlain (New Democratic Party) took part.

School officials said the candidates attended the meeting since they see the value of including young people in the democratic process.

A “student vote” is following the event, organized to simulate voting procedures that include a Chief Electoral Officer, voting lists and ballot boxes.

Jakob Letkemann of the National Citizens Alliance of Canada and Progressive Canadian Party candidate Brian Marlatt are also running.

The seat became vacant after the constituency’s NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson decided to run provincially.

Malcolmson won the B.C. byelection for Nanaimo January 30, and has since been appointed by Premier John Horgan as a special advisor on marine debris protection to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change George Heyman.

Four days of advanced voting ended Monday and the byelection will be held May 6.

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