On Thursday night, a group of local candidates gathered in Toronto for this election's first LGBT-centred debate.
The participants came from several Toronto ridings, though the questions focused on national issues.
The parties were invited to choose their representatives and the participants were:
- Bill Morneau, Liberal candidate for Toronto Centre
- Chris Tolley, Green candidate for Toronto-Danforth
- Craig Scott, NDP candidate for Toronto-Danforth
The Conservatives — who did not send a candidate — were represented by an empty chair and a forlorn water bottle.
Got anything to say about Bill C279, little guy?
At one point, debate moderator Brenda Cossman asked the candidates to kindly not engage in a "Clint Eastwood-style" debate with the empty chair.
The candidates took questions from both the debate organizers and the audience on topics including the death of C279 — (a transgender rights bill), LGBT refugees, blood donation and protection for sex workers.
Thurs Sept 24 is the #Toronto debate on #LGBTQ issues in the federal election at @yyzbuddies, 5pm. #LGBTQVotes
Both the Liberal and the Green candidate stumbled on a question from an audience member about the criminalization of not disclosing one's HIV status. Only Scott — the only openly gay candidate on stage — appeared to be aware of the law.
Scott told BuzzFeed Canada the Liberals simply sent a local candidate "who is not an expert on the issues."
In his closing statements, Liberal candidate Morneau said he would be a "champion" for LGBT Canadians.
LGBT issues have by and large not been a talking point during this election. Green candidate Tolley said that's because it's not a comfortable topic for some of the other parties.
"It’s territory that the traditional parties have to be very careful about where they’re going. You’re trying to not lose your base, a lot of it is political strategy," he said.