All-candidates debate cancelled in B.C. riding over safety concerns, candidates told

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 11:37 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Organizers cancelled an all-candidates statement successful Campbell River, B.C. with small announcement connected Tuesday owed to planned protestation rallies astatine the venue.

The statement was expected to feature Conservative campaigner Aaron Gunn, Green campaigner Jessica Wegg, NDP campaigner Tanille Johnston, Liberal campaigner Jennifer Lash, People's Party campaigner Paul MacKnight and an Independent candidate, Glen Staples.

But an hr and a fractional earlier the lawsuit astatine Tidemark Theatre successful Campbell River successful bluish Vancouver Island, the event's organizer — the Campbell River Chamber of Commerce — sent retired a media merchandise saying the lawsuit was cancelled.

While the enclosure has not responded to interview requests from CBC News, candidates told CBC News that they were informed the cancellation was owed to information concerns and planned protests and counter-protests astatine the venue.

"After cautious consultation with section authorities and lawsuit organizers, we person concluded that it is intolerable to warrant the event's information and orderly behaviour nether these circumstances," reads a connection from lawsuit organizers posted connected Gunn's Facebook page.

The NDP, Liberal and Green candidates decided to person an impromptu lawsuit extracurricular the theatre wherever they spoke to voters astir what matters to them, portion the Conservative campaigner said helium would sound connected doors directly.

"Speaking for myself, I hadn't had immoderate information concerns. We hadn't received immoderate any connection that determination was going to beryllium thing to beryllium disquieted about," Wegg told CBC News.

Wegg said the number-one contented successful the riding was the contented of affordability and housing, and that debates similar Tuesday's were important to guarantee determination isn't further governmental polarization successful the country.

"We're proceeding a batch astir fears astir what's happening southbound of the border," Wegg said. "We privation that to not hap here."

Lash, the Liberal candidate, called the statement cancellation a "disservice to our community."

She said that she was hoping to usage the statement to talk about issues specified as salmon farms, specifically the national government's determination to close the province's open-net salmon farms by 2029. 

"We truly fto the assemblage down erstwhile we didn't enactment unneurotic the close modulation bundle to enactment the community," she said of the salmon workplace decision. "And I'm consenting to combat for it."

For his part, Staples told CBC News that his number-one contented was Canada's enactment and electoral strategy itself.

Tory campaigner criticized implicit tweets

While a CBC News newsman successful Campbell River observed a tiny objection extracurricular the theatre connected Tuesday, with astir 20 First Nations Elders gathering successful a ellipse to protest Gunn, she did not spot immoderate counter-protesters.

Conservative campaigner Gunn has been criticized for his past tweets, with First Nations leaders accusing him of residential schoolhouse denialism with the posts.

Gunn made posts connected X betwixt 2019 and 2021 denying that Indigenous radical faced a genocide successful Canada and that "residential schools were asked for by Indigenous bands." 

WATCH | Gunn draws flak implicit societal media posts: 

A campaign spokesperson told CBC News that "Aaron Gunn has been wide successful recognizing the genuinely horrific events that transpired successful residential schools, and immoderate effort to suggest different is simply false."

Gunn said connected Facebook while helium was disappointed with Tuesday's cancellation, "this won't dilatory america down." 

The NDP's Johnston said that Gunn's societal media posts should not beryllium the taxable that matters astir to North Island-Powell River voters.

"We should beryllium spending our clip talking astir the the greater things similar increasing our system and what that looks like," she said.

"Expanding wellness attraction successful our provinces, expanding our $10-a-day child-care programme and the nuances that request to beryllium brought guardant with that, these types of astonishing initiatives that are truly going to assistance communities."