Waterloo Region provincial candidates debates available for streaming on Rogers TV

Kitchener Centre by-election info. Christine Clark/CityNews Kitchener

Posted Feb 15, 2025 10:48:53 AM.

Last Updated Feb 18, 2025 09:37:53 AM.

Rogers TV has partnered up with local organizations to bring coverage of the candidates running for a seat at Queen’s Park.

The Local Campaign will stream debates for the ridings of Waterloo, Cambridge, Kitchener Centre, Kitchener Conestoga, Kitchener South Hespeler, Perth-Wellington, Brantford-Brant, and Guelph.

The debates for the two Cambridge ridings are being held in partnership with the volunteer organization Citizens for Cambridge. Having the debates filmed and available for streaming make them available for the wider community.

“We’ll use our resources as as much as we can to try to expose that opportunity to the community so that more people get to know more about the different candidates and and make a more informed decision on who they want representing them at Queens Park,” group founder Dan Clements in a video posted to the Rogers TV YouTube channel.

The debates will be hosted by Mike Farwell of the 570 News Radio Mike Farwell Show.

Clements said he does not expect local candidates to punch above their pay grade; however, there are many local issues of concern that residents are looking for their MPPs to address. Some issues include encampments, homelessness and the broader housing crisis.

By making the debates available online, organizations are also hoping to see more people make their way to the polls. Voter turnout across the province for the 2022 Ontario election was the lowest in recorded history with just 43.5 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot.

“The number one item is voting,” Clement said. “The turn out for elections, not just in Cambridge but everywhere, is abysmally low and that’s unfortunate. It’s the democratic deficit that people talk about a small percentage of the population really elect our leaders.”