TORONTO – Rogers Media’s CityNews will host the first televised debate featuring all three major provincial party leaders in advance of the June election for the new Premier of Ontario.
#CityVote: The Debate will air commercial-free on Monday, May 7 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM ET on City, CityNews.ca, the CityNews Apps for iOS and Android, and the CityNews Facebook page. For multilingual audiences in Ontario, the debate will also air on OMNI2 at 6:00 PM ET in Punjabi and at 10:00 PM ET in Mandarin. Additionally, analysis of the debate will be featured on OMNI Television's daily current affairs programs that evening: Focus Punjabi at 7:30 PM ET, Focus Cantonese at 8:30 PM ET, and Focus Mandarin at 9:30 PM ET.
Taking place at City studios in downtown Toronto, candidates Doug Ford, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario; Andrea Horwath, leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party; and Kathleen Wynne, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, will sound off on hot-button issues, such as transit, health care, the legalization of marijuana, crime, and policing.
CityNews will feature a 360 view of the debate live streamed on its Facebook page. Additionally, throughout the broadcast, viewers will have the opportunity to join the conversation and participate in live polling on social media, using the hashtag #CityVote.
"We're City, we're Toronto, and viewers who work and live in the city need a chance to see these leaders through our urban lens," said Dave Budge, Rogers Media’s VP of news & information, television, in the news release. "It's crucial that we focus this debate on issues that matter here, so the voters in Toronto get a chance to cut through the rhetoric and see how the vote will change life in the city".
