Leaders of the Liberals, Conservatives, Bloc Québécois and NDP have agreed to two English and two French debates to hammer at issues surrounding the Jan. 23 vote.
The first debate will be held in Vancouver on Dec. 15 in French. It will be followed the next day by an English debate. Each will be broadcast between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. EST and will include videotaped questions for the leaders from voters across the country.
If you want your question considered, send it to question@electiondebate.ca. If your question is selected, we'll be in touch to arrange for you to record it on videotape.
The moderator can ask follow-up questions if necessary.
The second set of debates, in either Gatineau or Montreal, will be Jan. 9 in English and the following day in French, during the same two-hour time slot. In these debates, all the questions will be posed by the moderators.
Tony Burman, editor-in-chief of CBC News, said there have been changes in the format over the last election in 2004.
Those debates were criticized for the cross-chatter and interruptions among the leaders, the result of each candidate's microphone being kept on at the same time.
However, said Burman, "closed mikes" will be used this time out.
The leaders will respond, one at a time, to each question. As one leader is speaking, the microphones for the other three will be cut off.
Five networks will broadcast the debates – CBC, CTV, Global, Radio-Canada and TVA.
The four journalists who will moderate the debates are: veteran broadcast executive Trina McQueen, TVOntario's Steve Paikin, Radio-Canada's Dominique Poirier and TVA's Sophie Thibault.
