OTTAWA – Draws held at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa have decided the order in which party leaders will speak and other details in the national televised debates being held next week and in early January.
There will be two sets of debates, in English and French. The first set will be held in Vancouver. The French-language debate will be held on Dec. 15, with the English following on Dec. 16. Both debates will be broadcast between 8 and 10 p.m. ET (5 – 7 p.m. PT). Both Vancouver debates will be hosted by a moderator. All questions will be posed by Canadians via videotape. The broadcasting consortium that will air the debates–Canada’s largest English and French television networks: CBC/Radio-Canada, CTV, Global Television, and TVA–received more than 8,000 questions from Canadians from across the country. The moderator will pose follow-up questions. Each candidate will have one minute for an opening statement and one minute for a closing statement.
The Vancouver debates will be divided into four approximately half-hour segments, with each segment devoted to a general theme. The parties have been provided with a list of six potential themes from which four will be selected. The parties will not know in advance which themes will be covered.
For the French debate on Dec. 15, the potential themes are (in alphabetical order) Canada and the world, the economy, the environment, governance and ethics, social policy, and national unity. The English-language debate topics on Dec. 16 are four of economy and trade, ethics and governance, the environment, foreign policy, national unity, and social policy.
Then in January, broadcasters will hold the second set in Gatineau, Que. or Montreal. Jan. 9 will see the English-language debate, followed the next day by the French-language debate. The second set of debates will take place at the same times. Themes for these debates will be confirmed later.
Moderators will oversee these debates and all questions and follow-ups will be asked by them. These debates will each be divided into four approximately half-hour segments, with each half-hour segment devoted to a single theme. Each segment will begin with a question from the moderator to one of the leaders who will then have 60 seconds to state his position. Following the first statement, each of the three remaining leaders will have 60 seconds to rebut in sequence. At the end of the rebuttal round the first leader will have 45 seconds to counter the rebuttals. The process will repeat until each leader has had the opportunity to be asked one question on the theme for that segment.
There were draws to determine the order in which leaders of the top four parties will speak, for opening statements, responding to the first question of the debate, closing statements, and appearing at the news conference afterwards.
Of the four sections of each debate, for all four debates, the Liberals will go first seven times, second six times, third two times, and fourth one time. The Bloc Québecois will go first four times, second two times, third six times, and fourth four times. The Conservatives will be first three times, second five times, third four times, and fourth four times. The New Democrats will be first two times, second three times, third four times, and fourth seven times.
