The Conservative Party will host two
official leadership debates – one English debate in Toronto, and one French
debate in Montreal. The Toronto debate will take place April 17th at the Metro
Toronto Convention Centre, while the Montreal debate will take place April 23rd
at the l’Amphithéâtre du Gesù.

“The decision to hold the debates at this point of the
race means candidates appearing on the stage are actually those that will
appear on the ballot,” said Dan Nowlan, co-chair of the Leadership Election
Organizing Committee. “We also took into account that these are held at or
after the membership deadline, allowing candidates to focus their efforts on
their own campaigns and recruiting new members to the party.”

Toronto and Montreal will be the two party sanctioned
debates, and all Verified Candidates will be expected to attend as per the
Leadership election rules.

“These debates will provide a great opportunity for our
Verified Candidates to have a robust exchange of ideas and policy, while giving
our members and Canadians a chance to better inform their choice among the
candidates,” said Lisa Raitt, co-chair of the Leadership Election Organizing
Committee. “With our Leadership Election Day fast approaching on June 27th,
having these two debates officially on the calendar is another important step
in our race, and I thank our committee for the work they’ve done on this to
date.”

Both debates will be open for Conservative Party members to attend, and further details around ticketing, the format of the debates, and moderators will be announced later. Both debates will also be streamed live online.

Canadians who wish to vote in the Conservative Party
leadership election have until April 17th, 2020 to purchase a membership. Only
members of the party as of April 17th will be eligible to vote in the
Conservative leadership election.

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