Wednesday night's federal candidate forum was nothing short of entertaining.

A crowd of over 100 people gathered on Sept. 1 at the Okotoks Alliance Church to hear the candidates for the Foothills riding discuss various issues.

Hot topics included vaccine passports, firearms, conversion therapy, carbon tax, and the energy sector.

Conservative incumbent John Barlow took quite a bit of heat from the other candidates, as they commented on his performance as the current MP and on the actions they presume he would take if re-elected.

Throughout the discussions, Josh Wylie of the Maverick party was very open about the priorities for his platform and his views on the current Conservative party and MP John Barlow.

Daniel Hunter with the People's Party also shared his thoughts on how things are currently operating and how he believes the PPC could do better.

Attended via Zoom, Paula Shimp, with the Liberals, was unable to verbally participate in the discussion due to technical difficulties.

NDP candidate Michelle Traxel, also on Zoom, had to resort to giving her comments by a phone held up to a microphone.

Green Party candidate Brett Rogers was not in attendance.

Through the course of the evening, the moderator Andrew Gustafson made a request over the mic that everyone keep things civil, particularly after the audience booed one of the answers from the NDP candidate.

Gustafson also reminded candidates to respect the others' allotted time to answer each question as several comments instigated interjections of disagreement.

Though not heard through the speaker or the livestream, there were a few "that's not true" comments from candidates during the statements from opposing parties.

The audience had a lot to ingest and process following the conclusion of the evening.

Coby Farrelly thinks it went well and that it opened the door to some great conversation.

"I felt like I was definitely leaning in a certain direction based on past voting and experience, but after hearing three specific candidates that I'm interested in, I have a lot to think about when I get home and before September 20th."

She feels that there were some significant differences between the candidates and that it's really important for people to think things through when choosing who to vote for.

Carson Read, a local seventeen-year-old who's really into researching politics locally and abroad, says he enjoyed seeing Barlow answer when challenged by the Maverick and PPC parties.

"I'm really involved in politics and I'm always wanting to learn and constantly challenge myself with new points and new perspectives, and I think it just was great to come here and have that exact thing happen."

Though not yet old enough to vote, he's a firm believer in being involved at all ages.

The entire livestream feed for the event is available to rewatch on www.okotoksonline.com as well as YouTube.

 

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